Sci/Tech Does the Color Pink Exist? Scientists Aren’t Sure

[The Helper]

In a blog post, Robert Krulwich of the public radio show Radiolab noted that there is no pink in the colors of the rainbow. Pink is actually a combination of red and violet, two colors, which, if you look at a rainbow, are on the opposite sides of the arc. Remember the old colors of the rainbow mnemonic ROYGBIV? The R (red) is as far as it can get from V (violet). That’s where the trouble lies. Pink can’t exist in nature without a little rainbow-bending help, which would allow the shades of red and violet to commingle. This is leading scientists to believe, as Krulwich puts it, that “pink is a made-up color.” Krulwich explains:

I know, of course, that all colors are just waves of light, so every color we “see,” we see with our brains. But what this video says is that there is no such thing as a band of wavelengths that mix red and violet, and therefore, pink is not a real wavelength of light. That’s why pink is an invention. It’s not a name we give to something out there. Pink isn’t out there.

Read more here.

 

[Slapshot136]

[video=youtube;skivW4MqUwA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skivW4MqUwA[/video]

maybe doughnut knew about this all along..

 

[Wiseman_2]

Wait wait wait.

If pink doesn't exist, then what on earth does that make the colour of my cuffs and collar?

 

[Prometheus]

Silly scientists, it's right there!

 

[Slapshot136]

Wait wait wait.

If pink doesn't exist, then what on earth does that make the colour of my cuffs and collar?

it's light red

 

[Fatmankev]

Since when was pink a combination of violet and red? I always thought it was white and red. Shows what I know.

 

[Darthfett]

Since when was pink a combination of violet and red? I always thought it was white and red. Shows what I know.

No, you're right. This is just scientists and journalists uniting in the triumph of epic fail.

 

[camelCase]

Something isn't right here =/
*Opens Photoshop*
*Opens Color Picker*
*Goes to FF0000*
*Moves picker around...*

At 255 red and 130+ Green and Blue..
It looks pink (Or light red) =/

I thought "violet" was just red and blue together?"
So...
violet = red + blue
pink = red + violet
pink = 2red + blue ??

Either way:
255 Red
0 Green
128 Blue
(Literally 2parts red and 1 part blue)

Does form a more solid pink..
Maybe they meant that the hot-pink or the darker pinks are red and violet.
Seeing as how "white" is red+blue+green =P

Saying that pink is red+white is like saying:
pink = red + red + green + blue

 

[Slapshot136]

Something isn't right here =/

I think they meant the pink that would result from a combination of the two pinks that you made, i.e. you defined "light violet" and "light red", and "pink" is any combination of the two, from 100% light violet and 0% light red, to 100% light red and 0% light violet, or 50/50 or any other combination - basically it covers too vague a spectrum to be only 1 color

 

[Sajin]

is this another one of those stduies the government spent millions of dollars funding? any way [video=youtube;S9dqJRyk0YM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9dqJRyk0YM&feature=autoplay&list=PL590B0AAC059F9FBB&lf=iv&playnext=1[/video]

 

[xPass]

Something isn't right here =/
*Opens Photoshop*
*Opens Color Picker*
*Goes to FF0000*
*Moves picker around...*

At 255 red and 130+ Green and Blue..
It looks pink (Or light red) =/

I thought "violet" was just red and blue together?"
So...
violet = red + blue
pink = red + violet
pink = 2red + blue ??

Either way:
255 Red
0 Green
128 Blue
(Literally 2parts red and 1 part blue)

Does form a more solid pink..
Maybe they meant that the hot-pink or the darker pinks are red and violet.
Seeing as how "white" is red+blue+green =P

Saying that pink is red+white is like saying:
pink = red + red + green + blue

I love you <3

 

[LurkerAspect]

Sooooooooo... then wth am I looking at when I see pink? I don't get how they can say a colour doesn't exist when almost everyone can CLEARLY see it. This is almost as annoying as them saying there's more than one moon and pluto's not a planet

 

[FireCat]

I don't get how they can say a colour doesn't exist when almost everyone can CLEARLY see it.

Haha yeah QFT!

 

[Accname]

Guys, you dont realize yet, but you just got trolled by the scientists, this should be a whole new level of shame you are feeling now.

 

[Nigerianrulz]

Sooooooooo... then wth am I looking at when I see pink? I don't get how they can say a colour doesn't exist when almost everyone can CLEARLY see it. This is almost as annoying as them saying there's more than one moon and pluto's not a planet

Are you trolling here? Looks like we have another firecat now hahaha

 

[Prometheus]

What I'm wondering is if we encounter an alien race, and assuming they have a different way of thinking but still have photon receptors for sight, if they'll have discovered pink at all.

 

[LurkerAspect]

Are you trolling here? Looks like we have another firecat now hahaha

Well if I am, it's not on purpose... I don't really know what I seem to have done here can someone fill me in?

So they're saying this is just another thing that should'nt exist yet it does...

Spoiler

like Justin Bieber?

 

[FireCat]

if they'll have discovered pink at all.

Nope, they haven't. because pink is still such a mystery even for aliens?!
lol Isn't that so? @Nigerianrulz

 

[phyrex1an]

If you want to educate yourself (as opposed to reading manufactured internet controversy), here are some relevant links:

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Color
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Cone_cell
http://physics.info/color/

 

[camelCase]

Okay, soo..
Color we see is interpreted by the cone cells in our eyes.
Or light hitting the cone cells causes a chemical reaction that sends a signal to the brain that interprets it as color or something.

When the "scientists" of this article said there was no "pink"; they meant that the "red" wavelengths and "violet" wavelengths of light weren't adjacent to each other. So there is no "in-between" wavelength that would produce pink.

However, color is perceived by our cone cells and brain.
So..
Red light hits cone cell..
Violet light hits cone cell..
Both signals are sent to brain..
Pink is perceived?

So..
The wavelengths don't have to "mix", they just have to hit the cone cells at the same time and get perceived..
Right?

(Off-topic: my hamster's cage is pink)

Also, that is kinda' creepy when I think about it =/
For all I know, what I see as green might be different from other people's green <.<
We could live our lives pointing to an object and saying it's green when our brain sees a different color ;O