Let Us Learn Morse Code!!

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Its my first article today (September 18 GMT +8) don't know if anyone of you interested in this sort of communication. Just to be sure, brace yourself due to the complexity that needs a good memory bank to familiarize with it.

Who remembers here of Christopher Nolan's epic science fiction movie Interstellar (2014)? For those familiar, skip the next few lines and go to third paragraph. For some who not yet seen the movie, I will state the brief plot (spoilers ahead lol). The movie is all about an exploration of finding and rescuing three (3) out of twelve (12) scientists from the first "Lazarus Mission". Said mission was launched 10 years ago to travel in a wormhole appeared near Saturn in the hope for "possible existence proof of life" outside Earth which is currently dying and in imminent danger as habitat. One particular scene, little Murph (Mackenzie Foy) believed their house is haunted by a "Ghost" wherein in an event some books in her shelf begun to fall. One scene, father-daughter conversation, Murph told Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) she is trying to decode the "message" of the "Ghost" thru Morse Code. See video below for the said clip.

I will keep you hanging for the mean time to give way our main topic "Morse Code". If you want to, I'll make a summary of Interstellar in my next article.

Okay, back to the business. As seen above, Cooper said Morse Code is all about " dots and dashes". As per britannica.com, its a system representing letters of alphabet (vowels and consonants), numerals, and punctuation marks thru an arrangement of dots, dashes, and spaces transmitted thru electrical pulses or via mechanical means such as flashes of lights (blinking) signals. Before, Morse code is a means for communication to convey messages. We're lucky nowadays, cellphones are within our pockets!

Brief fact check: American inventor Samuel Finley Breese Morse with his assistant and partner Alfred Lewis Vail created the electric telegraph (original Morse system) during 1830s. However, other languages with different styles (diacritic marks) can't translate using the first Morse code (aka American Morse). As a solution, International Morse Code (by Friedrich Clemens Gerke) was born years after in simpler (standard) form compare to the old version and with minor revisions in 1930s which used in past World Wars as type of military communications.

Familiarizing Morse code is hard one. On the bright side, it will come handy when time comes. For instance, you were kidnapped and don't have a means of communication outside to call for help. But you have a flashlight hidden. You can reach someone thru blinking lights (assuming the receiver know Morse code too). Another is when you've become a castaway stranded in a lone island. Instead of writing "SOS" in sand, use signals to the ship(s) spotted nearby.

Original clip here.

In your studies, you can cheat using Morse code during exam or quizzes. Just make sure your teacher does not know how to crack your hidden messages, haha! Its like "Bad Genius" movie movie scene there haha. Use it wisely as the saying,

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Original clip here.

As shown, the International Morse Code generally comprises the alphabet, numbers, and some punctuation marks. If you want to learn this code, begin now to read! Remember use dot, dash and space! For convenience, use the online Morse code generator to practice.

Leave your comments below if you already decode the first quoted phrase above.

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-jehe