*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).
Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, July 20, 2020.
Nationally, homes are selling within 30 days on average, leaving less time to act on homes when they go on the market.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
SEIU President Mary Kay Henry talked to Cheddar about how the Strike for Black Lives will fight for the causes of racial and economic justice simultaneously.
Teams of military medics were deployed in Texas and California to help hospitals deluged by coronavirus patients. Miami area authorities, meanwhile, began stepping up enforcement Friday of a mask requirement.
The U.S. once again shattered its own record of new coronavirus cases: 77,000 on Thursday --14,000 of which were in Florida. In Miami Beach, the party scene on iconic Ocean Drive continues; worried that the Manhattan nightlife scene -- which has moved to the streets -- is getting out of control, Gov. Cuomo told bars in NYC they can no longer serve alcohol unless it’s accompanied by food, and all walk-up bar service will be shut down.
Netflix added a flood of new subscribers amid the coronavirus pandemic and also offered clues to a possible successor for founding CEO Reed Hastings, who on Thursday named the company’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, as co-CEO.
The ruse discovered Wednesday included bogus tweets from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires.
The politicization of school reopenings by Trump has scared off teachers who before were "overwhelmingly" in support of heading back in the fall, Randi Weingarten told Cheddar.
The former first lady will host The Michelle Obama Podcast from Obama's Higher Ground production company, Spotify announced Thursday.
