*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).
Every year as if on rotation, tech rumors soar ー but many promises fail to launch. As part of our 2018 Cheddar Awards, we're honoring the tech innovations that never materialized, and the rumors that caused our hopes to rise, then fall almost as quickly.
There's nothing new about the celebrity side hustle. Just ask Jane Fonda circa 1986. Even and the rich and famous still need to make an extra buck. But 2018 will be remembered as the year Hollywood got rid of the "side" and simply hustled.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Cheddar's Biggest Flirt Award goes to Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018.
Boris McGiver didn't need to research his journalist character on "House of Cards" ー he simply had to read the scripts.
"The writing was and remains so good," McGiver said Monday of the show, which was the first of Netflix's ($NFLX) binge-watchable programming when it premiered in 2013 and is now wrapping up after six seasons.
If forced to choose between putting their child in a driverless car or in a vehicle driven by a stranger, the majority of parents, Ford reports, would prefer a non-human to take the wheel. "When we talk about trust, that's somewhere where we see something really jumping out at us," Sheryl Connelly, futurist at Ford, told Cheddar Monday.
Clean water advocate and movie heroine Erin Brockovich is raising red flags over the state of the nation's water supply. She told Cheddar that it's time for the public to take notice of a problem they've largely been ignoring. "The issue has always been there ー we just either haven't talked about it or it hasn't been exposed," Brockovich said.
Apple filed an appeal on Monday to overturn a court-ordered ban on the import and sale of some iPhones in China. Chipmaker Qualcomm requested an injunction against Apple ($AAPL), alleging patent violations on a particular feature that allows users to adjust the size and appearance of photos, and another that manages applications with a touchscreen.
"Dangerously smooth" ー that's how John Rich, creator and owner of Redneck Riviera, describes his American-blended whiskey. The country singer, and half of the Big & Rich duo, joined Cheddar to disccuss his lifestyle brand, which focuses on America's "work hard, play hard" mentality and creates products to match ー ranging from cowboy boots to spirits.
Some millennials are vowing to protect the environment along with their relationships when they walk down the aisle ー with "zero waste" weddings. Given the potential for waste ー discarded florals, trimmings, and food ー an eco-friendly wedding is a lofty goal, but it can be done, according to Rachel Sylvester, a lifestyle editor at RealSimple.com.
