*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).
Hurricane Michael strengthened into a monster Category 4 storm overnight, tracking for a Wednesday afternoon landfall near Panama Beach, Fla. Joel Myers, founder and president of AccuWeather, explained the specific dangers of this storm for the southeast.
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With a seemingly endless number of sources for original content, media is fighting a "war for consumer time," said Rich Greenfield, media and tech analyst for BTIG. He said legacy media companies need to get a lot larger in order to compete.
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Utah is one of four states with a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot next month. But Republican State Senate President Wayne Niederhauser said so-called Prop 2 probably goes to far and a separate, bipartisan bill to legalize medical use with some restrictions, is a more measured approach.
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As VC funds shovel money into start-ups, they have noticeably stayed away from Juul, even as it exploded in growth and catapulted to become the most valuable vape brand. Erin Griffith, correspondent for the New York Times, said investors appear to be taking a moral stand, even as they simultaneously invest in other nicotine-delivery products.
The actor and comedian spoke to Cheddar about his new projects, which focus on race, mental health, and political issues in a wide-ranging interview.
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The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Google had exposed over 500,000 Google+ users' data and failed to alert authorities. The company ultimately said it would shut down the consumer version of the social network. Douglas MacMillan, the reporter who broke the story for the Journal, said Google's handling of the information is causing a lot of speculation about the tech giant's business practices.
