The first time most people hear the quiet chirp of a smoke detector in the dead of winter, it feels like a minor nuisance. It’s easy to press a finger to the base, silence the sound and carry on. But ...

We’ve all been there. It’s 2 a.m. and you hear an eardrum-piercing beep. Your first reaction is to cover your head with a pillow and pretend it never happened. Eventually the slow chirping takes ...

Your smoke alarm’s chirp can be oddly reassuring, a small sound that suggests everything is still working. Yet the device ...