You might think you don’t know what the Wilhelm Scream is, but you do. It’s a very specific, brief, high-pitched scream of a man in agony, and it’s been used in hundreds and hundreds of films and TV ...

Some of the best soundscapes, it turns out, signal danger in ways we cannot ignore, alerting parts of our brain that evolved millions of years ago.

The sound unfolds as an ethereal wail that seems to rise out of a misty canyon, its initial notes thin and far‑away. As it climbs, a sharp, almost metallic high pitch cuts through the distance, ...