# Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) > Breaking: after years of research, the cat says hi. Updated Oct 18, 2026 · first seen May 28, 2026 · #15 on today's ViralMeme board · +14% in 24 hours · on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit. Where it is in its life: For You (rising). Rising: the best time to post it. Also called: scientists reveal the secret, scientists reveal the hi cat, scientists reveal the hi original, scientists discover the hi, scientists reveal the bye, scientists reveal the X, BBC news cat hi meme. Page: https://viralmeme.ai/meme/scientists-reveal-the-hi ![Scientists Reveal the Hi: a wide-eyed orange cat over the caption "Scientists reveal the" with a "Hi" sign, a frame of the GIF as it went round online](https://media.rapduo.ai/uploads/rapduo/site/viralmeme/memes/scientists-reveal-the-hi.jpg) The original picture, as posted on Know Your Meme: Scientists Reveal the Hi (added Oct 15, 2026) (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scientists-reveal-the-hi). ## TL;DR "Scientists reveal the hi" is a meme made to look like a BBC News thumbnail: an orange cat sits under a headline promising a scientific discovery, and the discovery is just "hi." It grew from a July 2025 dog picture captioned "Scientists reveal the secret," which Reddit users turned into a cat and, on May 28, 2026, into "the hi." In October 2026 it spread on Instagram and TikTok, and US searches climbed fast after Know Your Meme added it on October 15. People send it as a greeting and remix the animal or the last word. ## What does Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) mean? The scientists reveal the hi meme is a joke about a big announcement with nothing inside it. The picture copies the look of a TV news thumbnail, with BBC News branding, a close-up of an orange cat and the headline "Scientists reveal the hi." A headline that starts with "scientists reveal" makes you expect a secret, a cure or a discovery. What you get is a greeting from a cat. That gap is the whole joke, and it works without any context. Mendoi, a site that explains trending memes, describes the format as borrowing the authority of a news bulletin while delivering almost no information. Because the headline is so short, people use scientists reveal the hi in place of saying hello: you post it in a group chat, reply with it to a friend, or drop it under a serious post as a deadpan way to say hi. The image is a parody made by meme makers. It is not a real BBC report, and the scientists in the headline don't exist. ## Why did Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) take off? Scientists reveal the hi is easy to read, easy to send and easy to change. A single image works on any platform, and anyone who sees scientists reveal the hi understands it in a second, even if they have never seen the earlier dog version. The template invites edits. Know Your Meme lists the format as exploitable: people swap the animal, change the face or replace the last word, so scientists reveal the hi has already turned into "bye," seal and other versions. On TikTok, video edits and compilations of cat versions kept the image moving through the late summer, and in October 2026 recaption edits spread on Instagram and TikTok. Search followed. On Google Trends, US interest in "scientists reveal the hi" rose from almost nothing in early October 2026 to its highest point on October 18, and by mid-October it was well ahead of searches for the older "scientists reveal the secret" wording. ## Where did Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) come from? The format began with a dog. On July 16, 2025, Instagram user cheemsitz posted a picture of a dog on a couch, made to look like a BBC News thumbnail with the headline "Scientists reveal the secret." Know Your Meme says it gained more than 100,000 likes in a year. The next day Redditor TyphlosionGod reposted it to r/comedyheaven, where it passed 3,800 upvotes. On July 18, 2025, Redditor Alicyndaquil answered that post with an edit that replaced the dog with an orange cat. Almost a year later, on May 28, 2026, Redditor matthweewhttam posted the cat to r/xertunposting with one word changed: "secret" became "hi." That post, titled "Hi," passed 1,100 upvotes over five months and is the first known version of scientists reveal the hi. Video came next. On August 9, 2026, TikToker @_bella_141 posted an edit that drew more than 200,000 views in two months, and on September 28 TikToker @kekust posted a collection of cat edits that passed 120,000 views in a month. A GIF of the cat with the BBC News caption was added to Tenor on October 8. Remixes picked up in mid-October, and Know Your Meme added its scientists reveal the hi entry on October 15, 2026, marked as still being researched. Mendoi published an explainer the next day. - **Jul 16, 2025:** Instagram user cheemsitz posts the dog version, "Scientists reveal the secret," styled as a BBC News thumbnail. - **Jul 18, 2025:** Redditor Alicyndaquil replies on r/comedyheaven with an edit that swaps the dog for an orange cat. - **May 28, 2026:** Redditor matthweewhttam posts the cat to r/xertunposting with "secret" changed to "hi." - **Aug 9, 2026:** TikToker @_bella_141's scientists reveal the hi video edit starts its run past 200,000 views. - **Sep 28, 2026:** TikToker @kekust posts a compilation of cat edits, passing 120,000 views in a month. - **Oct 12, 2026:** An Instagram "bye" version with inverted colours passes 35,000 likes in three days. - **Oct 14, 2026:** An Instagram edit with a seal's face passes 13,500 likes in a day. - **Oct 15, 2026:** Know Your Meme adds an entry for Scientists Reveal the Hi. ## Popular versions of Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) ### Scientists reveal the secret The 2025 original: a dog on a couch under the same mock BBC News headline, before the cat and the "hi" arrived. ### Scientists reveal the bye Instagram user pooods inverted the colours and changed "hi" to "bye," for leaving a chat as dramatically as you entered it. ### Seal face Instagram user Owen_Kung put a seal's face on the cat, keeping the scientists reveal the hi headline unchanged. ### Scientists reveal the X Recaptions swap the last word or the animal for a new punchline, while the news frame stays. ### Video edits TikTok edits and compilations set scientists reveal the hi and its cat remixes to sound. ## How to post Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) on TikTok 1. Send the scientists reveal the hi picture instead of typing hello, in a group chat or as a reply. 2. For a remix, keep the news-thumbnail frame and change one thing: the animal, its face, or the word "hi." 3. Use the "bye" version when you leave, and never explain the joke. ## Make your own ViralMeme explains this meme for now: making your own from a photo opens once its template has passed a real test render. ## Questions about Scientists Reveal the Hi (Cat Meme) ### What does scientists reveal the hi mean? It is a fake news headline that promises a scientific discovery and delivers a greeting. The joke is the gap between a big announcement and a cat saying hi, so people send it as a way to say hello. ### What is the original scientists reveal the hi meme? The first known version is a May 28, 2026 post on r/xertunposting that changed "secret" to "hi" on an earlier cat edit. That edit came from a July 2025 dog picture captioned "Scientists reveal the secret." ### Is the scientists reveal the hi cat really from BBC News? No. The picture is made to look like a BBC News thumbnail, but it is a parody created by meme makers, not a BBC report. ### What is scientists reveal the secret? It is the earlier name of the format: a dog on a couch, posted on Instagram by cheemsitz on July 16, 2025, under the headline "Scientists reveal the secret." ### Who made the scientists reveal the hi cat? Redditor Alicyndaquil swapped the dog for an orange cat on July 18, 2025, and Redditor matthweewhttam changed the word to "hi" on May 28, 2026, according to Know Your Meme. ### What is scientists reveal the bye? A variation posted on Instagram on October 12, 2026, with inverted colours and "bye" in place of "hi." People use it when they leave a conversation. ### Is it scientists discover the hi or scientists reveal the hi? The headline in the image says "reveal," so scientists reveal the hi is the correct wording, though some people search for "discover" or "unveil." ### Why is scientists reveal the hi trending? Recaption edits of scientists reveal the hi spread on Instagram and TikTok in October 2026, and Know Your Meme added an entry on October 15. US searches rose quickly through mid-October. ### How do you use the scientists reveal the hi meme? Send it as a greeting, post it after an announcement with no real news, or remix it by changing the animal or the last word. ## Sources - [Know Your Meme: Scientists Reveal the Hi (added Oct 15, 2026)](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scientists-reveal-the-hi) - [Mendoi: Scientists Reveal the Hi cat news meme (Oct 16, 2026)](https://mendoi-apps.com/en/articles/scientists-reveal-the-hi-cat-news-meme-2026/) - [Tenor: Scientists Reveal Meme GIF (added Oct 8, 2026)](https://tenor.com/view/scientists-reveal-the-hi-cat-gif-12539011496316402141) - [Google Trends: "scientists reveal the hi", US, past 30 days (read Oct 18, 2026)](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%201-m&geo=US&q=scientists%20reveal%20the%20hi) ## What changed on this page - Oct 19, 2026: Added the original picture, credited. - Oct 18, 2026: Page added with dated sources.