*By Alisha Haridasani*
It’s the most divisive question since the blue and black dress (or was it white and gold?!): Do you hear Yanny or Laurel?
Technically, the answer is "Laurel." But some people swear it's "Yanny."
The question, which is ripping the internet apart, revolves around an audio clip [reportedly](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/science/yanny-laurel.html) posted on Reddit by a student who found it on a vocabulary website when researching a school project under the word "laurel." The clip went viral, leaving many listeners questioning what they heard ー and maybe their sanity.
The discrepancy in what people hear could be due to circumstance, said Brad Story, professor of speech, language, and hearing at the University of Arizona.
“It really is going to depend on the information that you have in terms of your bias toward listening to it at that moment in time," said Story. "That’s what we call ‘top-down information’ ー trying to make sense of any kind of pattern that's present.”
The two words share very similar acoustic characteristics that your brain could selectively hear it one way or the other, he said.
The bass, frequency, and volume of the audio clip can also influence what someone hears. Some people posted videos on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JFLivesay/status/996585941241401346) where the audio levels were adjusted, changing how the clip could be heard.
So, whatever the *technical* answer to the question is, in reality, it can be both.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/yanny-vs-laurel).
A movie about the life of the late Betty White will premiere on what would have been her 100th birthday, January 17. The film will celebrate highlights from the trailblazer’s nearly eight-decade-long career.
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Jewell Jackson McCabe, chair of the Keep Love Alive Campaign and founder of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and Marvin Owens, chief engagement officer of Impact Shares and former senior director of Economic Development at the NAACP, join Cheddar News to reflect on racial issues still prevalent in America.
Grocery stores are restricting hours and services due to omicron-related labor and supply chain issues. This also comes at a time of labor unrest for supermarket giant Kroger as more than 8,000 workers at its King Soopers chain in Colorado have gone on strike.
Sky Harbour, a company developing private aviation infrastructure, is gearing up to land on Wall Street. The company announced plans to go public through a SPAC deal with Yellowstone Acquisition Company, valuing the combined venture at $777 million. The company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange as $SKYH.
On this episode of ChedHER: Model and Fashion Designer Catie Li breaks down what work needs to be done to improve representation in the beauty industry; Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and CEO of DreamBox Learning, explains how technology is transforming the way the world learns, and her career journey as a leading woman of color in the tech industry.
Model and Fashion Designer Catie Li joins ChedHER to discuss her unique journey into the modeling world, designing her very own Amazon The Drop collection, and what work needs to be done to improve representation in the beauty industry.
Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and CEO of DreamBox Learning, joins ChedHER to discuss how technology is transforming the way the world learns, and her career journey as a leading woman of color in the tech industry.
