*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).
Recent victims of ransomware attacks span the public and private sectors and include Universal Health Services, one of the largest hospital systems in the U.S., and the Clark County School District in Las Vegas.
Jill and Carlo update on the president's health as he torpedoes stimulus negotiations; West Wing outbreak turning into biggest American superspreader event; VP debate preview and remembering Eddie Van Halen.
Tim Kendall, CEO of Moment and former Pinterest president, joined Cheddar to discuss the harrowing effects of social media use and how "big social's" methods are harming users.
With the coronavirus pandemic still closing down large parts of the economy, wedding parties and industry vendors are in a wait-and-see mode.
The president returns to the White House to recover from Covid as the West Wing sees more cases than New Zealand, Vietnam and Taiwan combined. Plus, why is it to hard to find anything on Netflix?
Lee Brown, VP and global head of advertising business at Spotify, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into what exactly Gen Z is looking for.
The staggering scale of California’s wildfires has reached another milestone: A single fire has surpassed 1 million acres.
Actress Laverne Cox joined Cheddar to discuss a partnership with Gold Bond for the #ChampionYourSkin campaign in effort to support the trans community.
Shares in the company that owns the Regal, Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas in the U.S. and Britain have fallen as much as 58% after it will temporarily close its venues after release of the latest James Bond film was postponed due to the pandemic.
The latest on President Trump's condition after a weekend of conflicting reports; what this means for the election and the Supreme Court confirmation battle, plus movie theaters in the fight of their lives and SNL for an era that can't be satirized.
