Feeling rather alarmed...

Today, while I was driving home, I heard a sound, even while the windows of my car were closed.  I knew instantly what it was and how to respond, as did the other cars around me.  It was the siren of an ambulance.  We are trained to become alert to this, and other sounds like it, similar to the way we recognize and respond to beacons.  Just as visual cues can inform us of our surroundings, so too can auditory.  And for longer than anyone can remember, humans, and animals, have taken advantage of these many different kinds of alarm signals.

Modern usages of the word “alarm” tend to be associated with electronic devices, such as smoke detectors.  But the origin of the word, according to dictionary.com, comes from the French for “the call to arms” ("Alarm")

The word “alert” has a similar definition, originally meaning “to be on the lookout”.  The fundamental difference between the two is that the latter calls for vigilance, whereas the former calls for action. ("Alert")

It’s no wonder then why you may sometimes feel like murdering your alarm, as the word was clearly born of a violent past.  The alarm system has been employed by animals since time immemorial.  In mammals (and humans), it tends to be a vocal response to warn or direct others, but other species sometimes use non-vocal methods to create alarm sounds.

Borrowed from: in-bruges.co.uk

Over time though, humans developed more efficient ways to call others to arms than by voice alone.  Prior to electricity, the bell tower was a popular alarm tool.  The Belfry of Bruges, for example, dates back to before the 13^th century A.D., and was used to warn of fires and other dangers.  Bell towers have also traditionally been used to announce less dire events such as marriages, funerals, or simply the time. (The Belfry)

Civil alarms, like bell towers, have since been replaced by electronic counterparts.  Directed at a large population, like a city or a town, sirens were very common throughout America, especially during the Cold War era, due to fear of bombing.  They were used both as a general warning to citizens, and to warn specifically of an attack. (Sirens)

In modern times, we still use many different kinds of alarms.  From your phone, to your car, they are still vital ways of relaying information.  But how will they be used in the future?  I’m sure ringers of bells never would have imagined a technology like the electronic siren, so it’s reasonable to posit that we also have not reached the pinnacle of technology in this area.  One can imagine a future where humans have spread across the stars and neither sound, nor even light are fast enough means of communication.  In this future, when danger approaches, humanity must use a technology so advanced from now that goes beyond even our wildest imaginations.  

Works cited:

"Alarm." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 10 April 2013.

"Alert." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 10 April 2013

"The Belfry." in-bruges.co.uk. in-bruges.co.uk, n.d. Web. 10 April 2013

<http://www.in-bruges.co.uk/belfry-of-bruges/belfry-of-bruges.html>

"Sirens." Civildefensemuseum.com. Civil Defense Museum, n.d. Web. 10 April 2013

<http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/sirens.html>

Where there's smoke...

I originally wanted to focus this post on smoke signals.  We've all heard of them, from LoonyToons to old westerns, but I thought, "What else can I learn about them?"  Well, as it turns out, not much.

For some Native Americans (and Boy scouts in modern times) smoke signals often followed a general pattern (although different tribes used different signals):
One puff =Attention,
Two puffs = All's well,
and Three puffs = Danger/Help (Indians.org, 2012)

This, surprisingly, was about the extent of information most sources had on smoke signaling, so I realized that I probably couldn't write an entire post on smoke signals alone, but my mind was still lingering in that area of thought.  Where does smoke come from?  Fire.  And fire, too, has been used for communication for centuries.  Now my field had expanded, to places I did not previously consider.

Throughout history, fire has been not only useful, but invaluable to mankind.  Although I could go into countless ways it's been beneficial, the focus of this blog, is, of course, communication, and fire has indeed been used as a reliable tool for communication.  If you've ever seen the Lord of the Rings movies, there's a scene in which one of the characters climbs a tower to light a beacon and call for aid before a battle.  In fact, while searching "Beacons", this reference dominated the top search results.  But war related uses do seem to be the most common for this method of communication.

Most Americans would recognize the line "One if by land, and two if by sea;" (Longfellow, 1861) from a famous poem about Paul Revere's midnight ride.  The line speaks of a signaling from a church tower to warn of the British army's advancement.  Beacon messaging has been used by such cultures as the Chinese in communication across the legendary Great Wall of China for centuries.  They would use smoke during the day and fire at night to relay messages about enemy troops, or attacks. (Chinese Heritage Quarterly, 2011)
Lighthouses are also a type of beacon, used to directs ships to safety, and guide them through treacherous waters, or to a harbor.

While my original concept of a beacon was limited to the use of fire, as I researched I realized that such communication is indeed still relevant today, but instead of using fire, we now use electricity.  At night, in fog, or rain, when driving a vehicle, we signal to other cars that we're on the road, using headlights, and taillights (which are useful in both day and night for communicating that we're applying brakes).  It is also common for drivers to make use of the high beam lights to different things in different contexts.
A flash may mean: "Police car ahead", "You go first", or "Your headlights aren't on"

I could go on about all the ways people use electric lights to communicate, but instead I encourage the reader to take a moment to consider the methods in which they personally employ these contemporary beacons each day.

References:

Longfellow, H.W. (1861). Paul Revere's Ride. The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved from 
http://poetry.eserver.org/paul-revere.html

China Heritage Quarterly. (2011, July 14). Wolf smoke signals war. Retrieved from http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=006_wolf.inc

Indians.org. (2012). Smoke signals. Retrieved from http://www.indians.org/articles/smoke-signals.html