*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).
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
*President Trump is in England preparing for a joint news conference with Theresa May. While the duo dined last night, The Sun newspaper published a sit-down interview with the president where he criticized May’s handling of Brexit. Trump warned trade deals with England could be nixed if Brexit isn’t handled properly.
*FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from working on the Hillary Clinton email probe and the Trump-Russia investigation after text messages were discovered in which he criticized the president.
*Stormy Daniels made an encore appearance at the same strip club she was arrested at the night prior.
*A Kansas City water park will not reopen after a 10-year-old boy died on a water slide.
*Serena Williams beat Julia Görges of Germany yesterday to reach her 10th Wimbledon final.
Cheddar Big News's Jill Wagner gives us the details.
The Olympic gold medalist hosts “Wedding Cake Championship,” a new show on Food Network, with longtime friend and fellow figure skater Johnny Weir. While the new gig is worlds different from their athletic careers, there are still some similarities. “The competition part of it was fun,” Lipinski tells Cheddar.
The iconic Apple founder and innovator was reportedly high "on a massive dose of LSD at the time of death," says Adam Fisher. Fisher's book also digs into Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's secret feud with Jobs.
The streaming platform broke HBO's 17-year streak of dominating the nominations list. “Because there are so many Netflix shows, they really can kind of flood the zone in a way HBO cannot,” says Jen Chaney, TV critic at Vulture.
These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* Confusion at the NATO summit after President Trump said allies will add billions of dollars to defense spending. But French president Emmanuel Macron rebuffed those claims.
* Stormy Daniels was arrested after an alleged misdemeanor at a Columbus, Ohio, strip club. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has also been working to reunite families at the southern border.
* The U.S. Senate voted yesterday on a non-binding resolution giving it a say on what tariffs are levied and against whom.
* New evidence prompted the Department of Justice reopened the case of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1955 in Money, Miss.
* John Schnatter, founder and former CEO of Papa John’s, has resigned his chairman role after a racially-charged comment on a conference call.
* Americans made it to both the men’s and women’s Wimbledon semifinals, the first time since 2009.
Cheddar Big News' Jill Wagner tells us the latest.
Even when Netflix was a DVD rental company, it tried to customize choices for its customers, says Gibson Biddle, former VP product at the streaming giant. That strategy still drives many of the company's decisions today, including the kind of content it spends money on.
The beer brewing giant brought back ’90s favorite Zima last year and is looking to new products, outside of beer, including a recent partnership with Clearly Kombucha. “We’re always years in advance. We want to build out a pipeline of products that we can push the 'Go' button on at any time,” Jason Pratt, senior manager of innovation at MillerCoors, tells Cheddar.
The "Skyscraper" actor believes that, in order to increase representation in Hollywood, filmmakers at the highest level need to be understanding and curious of other cultures. "If we had more producers, more Asian financiers, more writers, more Asian directors, then we will be able to tell a story that's authentic to the Asian experience," he said.
The dockless bike sharing company is partnering with the department of transportation to launch a pilot program in a city that is plagued with bike theft. But Lime's focus on hiring locally and working with communities will help it survive Manhattan, says Caen Contee, vice president of marketing, business development, and expansion.
Business, tech and finance headlines exclusively for Hulu subscribers from Cheddar. Today's highlights include Amazon, bitcoin prices and net neutrality.
