In 1877, Englishman John Richard Dedicoat invented the world's first bicycle bell. For about a century and a half, cyclists could use their thumb to activate the chime, warning pedestrians.

However, companies like Apple, Bose, Sony and others have defeated the bicycle bell with two small objects: Active noise-canceling earbuds. Now that cities are filled with people walking around with their ears plugged by ANC, annoyed cyclists worldwide have found their bells neutered, to everyone's peril.

Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto recently learned of this problem while studying road safety. Having started out as a bicycle company, they thus decided to develop a new type of bicycle bell.

By partnering with the UK's University of Salford, they designed a bell with a second resonator and a special hammer. This hammer is designed to produce rapid and irregular strikes. "This generates sound waves that ANC algorithms are unable to process quickly enough to suppress," Škoda explains.

The collaborators then tested their DuoBells, as they're called, on the streets of London. It worked: "The bell proved so effective that [the Deliveroo couriers used in testing] expressed a desire to keep it."

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No word on whether they'll put it on the market.