*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).
Cloudera and Hortonworks, longtime cloud and data rivals, have decided it's better to take on Amazon Web Services together than apart. Cloudera CMO Mick Hollison told Cheddar how the merged company, with 2,000 customers, fits in the cloud wars.
TSM’s Fortnite pro Ali "Myth" Kabbani ignited a conversation last month about esports player unions when he suggested he might start one for the Fortnite community. But esports unions were on the mind of Stephen "Snoopeh" Ellis long before Kabbani pushed them into gamers' consciousness. “There’s a huge lack of education and awareness amongst players in the importance of taking their career seriously," Snoopeh told Cheddar Sports.
As the partial government shutdown spans its 18th day, furloughed federal workers like Sam Shirazi who have been placed on unpaid leave are struggling with both an immediate financial reality and a more amorphous sense of uncertainty. "We don't know when it's going to end, and it doesn't seem like it's going to end anytime soon," Shirazi told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin on Tuesday.
There seem to be endless options when it comes to diet plans, new workouts, and high-tech help. But could too many options be a bad things? A new study by Jenny Craig looks at how all those choices can lead to misinformation. The company's CEO Monty Sharma talked to Cheddar about the best ways to get healthy.
Apple has topped the charts once again ー but this time it's on buy-back site DeClutttr's list of 2018's most unwanted items. The iPhone 7 may have been the company's most traded-in item last year, but according to Anthony Catterson, DeClutttr's president and CEO, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The buzzword "wellness" has crept into marketing-speak at practically every turn these days. But one company with 35 years of experience in the original wellness trend ー weight loss ー doesn't buy the hype. We stay away from that word," said Jenny Craig CEO Monty Sharma in an interview on Cheddar Tuesday.
Esports fans tuning into Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's new show on NBC, "The Titan Games," may be surprised to see a familiar face: Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez, who is more likely as a commentator for "Overwatch" or "Halo" than for an athletic obstacle gauntlet.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2018.
Nationwide minimum wage hikes mean consumers should expect to see price hikes on food and beverages, too, "Bar Rescue" host Jon Taffer told Cheddar."I'm guessing that we're going to see a good 4 to 7 percent increase over the next year," Taffer said.
In anticipation of Valentine's Day, Lush Cosmetics is getting sardonic. And to inject some humor into the holiday, the company is releasing a new line of bath bombs inspired by two of the internet's most suggestive emojis ー the eggplant and the peach. “We decided to take a cheekier approach this year,” said Brandi Halls, the company's director of brand communication.
