Are computerized hospital alarms trying to tell us too much? The beeping of monitors has become the ever-present audio wallpaper of hospital units. Medical devices monitoring patients send off alerts ...

Technical devices sometimes have the annoying habit of drawing attention to themselves through beeping or other noises. What manufacturers consider practical can annoy users, such as with microwaves.

One of the most common sounds in the modern world is the beep. From microwaves and cellphones to computers and backing-up trucks, this high-pitched alert pings us from every direction. But how is it ...