Scientists Reveal the Hi — Close-up of a startled orange cat with text 'Scientists reveal the' and a 'Hi' label covering part of the headline

Scientists Reveal the Hi

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Published October 15, 2026

Scientists Reveal the Hi, also known as Scientists Reveal the Secret, is an exploitable image macro styled as a BBC News thumbnail showing an orange cat on a couch under the caption 'Scientists reveal the hi.' Instagram user cheemsitz posted the original dog-and-'secret' version in July 2025, and edits replacing the subject with an orange cat and the word 'secret' with 'hi' circulated through 2026. By October 2026, TikTok and Instagram accounts were posting color-inverted and face-replaced variants that drew tens of thousands of likes.

exploitable templates cats absurdist humor memes captioned animal memes bait and switch memes

Overview

Scientists Reveal the Hi runs on the deadpan clash between a news-style headline promising a scientific revelation and an orange cat on a couch captioned only 'hi.' Users edit the base photo as a template: they replace the animal's face, invert the image colors, or write a different short word like 'bye' in place of 'hi'7. The visual design mimics a BBC News thumbnail, so stacking serious presentation against nonsense is the whole gag5.

Both the orange cat edit and the 'hi' caption edit originated on Reddit before migrating to TikTok and Instagram in 2026, where accounts like @_bella_141 posted animation edits based on the still image6. Later variants include a seal face replacement by Instagram user Owen_Kung8 and a color-inverted 'bye' version by Instagram user pooods7.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (original) / Reddit (cat and 'hi' edits) / TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
cheemsitz; Alicyndaquil; matthweewhttam
Date
2025

On July 16, 2025, Instagram user cheemsitz posted the original Scientists Reveal the Secret version, a BBC News-style thumbnail of a dog sitting on a couch captioned 'Scientists reveal the secret'1. The post collected over 100,000 likes over the next year. The following day, Redditor TyphlosionGod reposted the image to /r/comedyheaven, where it drew more than 3,800 upvotes2.

On July 18, 2025, Redditor Alicyndaquil posted a comment edit on the same thread that replaced the dog with an orange cat, locking in the format most later variants would use3. Nearly a year later, on May 28, 2026, Redditor matthweewhttam posted an edit to /r/xertunposting that changed 'secret' to 'hi,' producing the title variant and collecting over 1,100 upvotes within five months4.

How It Spread

The cat-and-'hi' version picked up pace on TikTok through 2026. On August 9, 2026, TikToker @_bella_141 posted a video edit based on the meme that collected over 200,000 views within two months6. On September 28, 2026, TikToker @kekust posted a photo collection of cat edits that drew over 120,000 views in a month, according to Know Your Meme5.

Instagram edits followed in October 2026. On October 12, 2026, Instagram user pooods posted a version that inverted the image's colors and changed 'hi' to 'bye,' collecting over 35,000 likes within three days7. Two days later, Instagram user Owen_Kung posted a variant that replaced the cat's face with a seal's face, gathering over 13,500 likes in a day8.

Timeline

2025-07-16

Instagram user cheemsitz posts the original dog version with the 'Scientists reveal the secret' caption.

2025-07-17

Redditor TyphlosionGod reposts the image to /r/comedyheaven, drawing over 3,800 upvotes.

2025-07-18

Redditor Alicyndaquil posts a comment edit replacing the dog with an orange cat.

2026-05-28

Redditor matthweewhttam posts a /r/xertunposting edit changing 'secret' to 'hi.'

2026-08-09

TikToker @_bella_141 posts an edit video that collects over 200,000 views in two months.

2026-09-28

TikToker @kekust posts a compilation of cat edits reaching over 120,000 views.

2026-10-12

Instagram user pooods posts a color-inverted 'bye' variant that gathers over 35,000 likes in three days.

2026-10-14

Instagram user Owen_Kung posts a seal-faced variant that collects over 13,500 likes in a day.

How to Use This Meme

A typical post keeps the BBC News layout intact: an orange cat sitting on a couch, a bold caption below the image, and the headline reading either 'Scientists reveal the hi' or a short word substitution like 'bye.' Common edits replace the cat's face with another animal, distort the image with color inversion, or animate the still photo for TikTok.

Frequently Asked Questions