Cats have long been some of the most memeworthy creatures online, and now a meme about "scientists revealing the hi" that involves an orange cat is going viral.

The memes are blowing up on sites like Instagram and TikTok, and a lot of people are confused about how exactly the meme started and what it means.

So, what's up with the "Scientists Reveal the Hi" meme? Here's what we know.

What Is The 'Scientists Reveal the Hi' Meme?

The meme got its start in May 2025 when the BBC published an article titled, "What makes ginger cats ginger?" which uses an image of an orange cat as the thumbnail.

Then, on July 5th, a Redditor added the caption, "Scientists reveal the secret," over the image of the cat and posted the image to the /r/Wunkus subreddit.

Later that month, the Instagram meme page cheemsitz posted a version of the meme that replaces the cat with a dog.

Finally, in late May 2026, Redditor xertunposting posted an edit of the meme to the /r/xertunposting subreddit that replaces the word "secret" with "Hi," making the absurd and nonsensical sentence, "Scientists reveal the hi."

There is no purpose to the meme, and the comedy derives from the strange and incorrect sentence.

How Is 'Scientists Reveal the Hi' Used In Memes?

The Scientists Reveal the Hi meme blew up in October 2026, particularly on Instagram.

As a meme, users are taking the image of the cat with the caption, "Scientists reveal the hi," and editing it in a variety of funny and strange ways, adding to the absurdity of the original meme via recaptions.

Some of the simplest versions of the meme include color inversions and slight alterations to the caption. Other versions of the meme include memes that fully replace the cat's face, and memes that replace the cat with another animal.

What Are Some More 'Scientists Reveal the Hi' Memes?

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For the full history of the Scientists Reveal the Hi meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.