*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).
Enrique Fernández-Toledo, Director of the Puerto Rico Initiative at the Center for American Progress, explained why an accurate death toll from Hurricane Maria took so long to be announced.
Louis C.K. performed in public this week for the first time since allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced over nine months ago. Dana Schwartz, a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly, broke down the public's response to his resurfacing.
Anand Giridharadas, author of "Winners Take All" and a former reporter for the New York Times, believes that the United States' encouragement and support of charitable giving has disenfranchised the working class.
Katie Fox, assistant director for the National Preparedness Directorate at FEMA, joined Cheddar to offer specific ways Americans should prepare for disasters, even if they don't live in hurricane zones.
Natural disasters affected 15 percent of the U.S. population in 2017, often in places unaccustomed to dealing with nature's fury.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Tesla's chief people officer is on an unexplained, extended leave of absence, just when the company needs to project an image of stability, says Brian Deagon of Investor's Business Daily. What the electric car maker really needs, Deagon says, is for CEO Elon Musk to get some rest.
The Endowment for Clean Oceans is holding a contest for anyone with an idea that could remove some of the plastic choking our oceans. Founder Daniel Perrin said there's emerging technology that could help the process, and he wants to jumpstart it.
We break down what primary election results in Flordia and Arizona mean for the upcoming midterm elections. President Trump steps up his criticism of Google and other big tech companies. Amazon is reportedly planning to a launch a free, ad-supported video streaming app. And we sit down with Ash Cash to get his take on why Kanye West might actually have some worthwhile career advice.
Brady Farmer, a chef on Netflix's "Cooking on High," and host Josh Leyva explained the concept of their new show: a classic food competition with an added twist ー the chefs must use cannabis in all of their dishes.
'The New L' will help Brooklyn residents affected by the looming shutdown of the L train into Manhattan. Its founder, Jaime Getto, said the luxury shuttle could help some of the 225,000 L riders get to work.
