*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).
Music mogul Wyclef Jean wants to be the first rapper to innovate a hip-hop guitar. Jean looks to Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine as music innovators, and hopes to mirror their technical success in the industry. Jean also tells Cheddar cannabis is the health-aide of the future.
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The owner of the sandwich chain Cheba Hut wants to be the go-to sandwich shop for stoner foodies, opening shops next to dispensaries where recreational marijuana is legal. "The green wave is good, it's real, and it's coming across the nation and we're going to ride that," says Scott Jennings says in an interview on Cheddar's Cannabiz show.
Marijuana-themed sandwich shop Cheba Hut is expanding its footprint across the nation as pot becomes legal in more states. The fast-casual restaurant's owner Scott Jennings explains how his company founded in 1998 is riding "the green wave."
With big-money backing from nearly every major Hollywood studio, NewTV should scare the established streaming services, says Julian Roman, correspondent for MovieWeb. "It's going to be prime-quality entertainment from Hollywood's biggest producers," meant to be distributed on mobile devices, Roman says.
A 12-month moratorium on most new for-hire licenses would let the city study how the expansion of ride-hailing services affects traffic, and how the Council can ensure drivers earn a living wage, says Speaker Corey Johnson. Uber and Lyft have pushed back against rules they say would limit their growth.
Pepsi's decision to replace its female CEO Indra Nooyi with a man signifies a greater problem in the corporate world, says
Susan Chira, senior correspondent for the New York Times.
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The founder of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream said a new investment from Strand Equity will allow the Brooklyn brand to open new ice cream shops beyond the 13 stores and 6 trucks it has in New York and Los Angeles. Ben Van Leeuwen says he aims to open 35 stores by April 2019. "Our goal is to go nationwide," he says.
"Use of marijuana is clearly not going to stop," said the Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. "So, we need to legalize it." Until that happens, the D.A. said his office won't prosecute pot smokers in an effort to remedy the "significant racial disparity" in the laws' application.
