October 2,2008:  Israel is planning to issue incoming missile warnings to civilians via cell phone. The reason for this is the risk of future terrorist attacks using long range rockets. Israel has radars that can spot incoming rockets, and calculate roughly where these unguided projectiles will land. In the south, these radars automatically turn on the air raid sirens and send people scurrying for shelter. But that only works because there are a few settlements in the south within range of these rockets fired by Palestinians in Gaza. Most of the population is further north. To make the cell phone warning work, the current ten civil defense (or "warning") regions, are being increased to 150. Naturally, one could just have the radars turn on the air raid sirens in the region where the rocket was going to land. But with 150 regions, the sirens in one region will be heard in one or more adjacent ones. That's the main reason for going to cell phone warnings. The main problem is modifying the cell phone network technology so that enough people in the target region promptly get calls. It's possible, for example, for some cell phones to have multiple ring tones. The government could issue an "incoming missile" ring tone. Anyone hearing this would know to head for cover. Others would receive a text message or call consisting of the air raid siren.

Now all this may not work, but it shows you the kind of imaginative solutions can be applied to new threats.