The conclave's black and white smoke indicates if there's a new pope. Here's why the tradition exists.

Black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday indicated that a new pope has not been chosen to replace Pope Francis on the first ballot.

Using smoke to communicate to the public whether a new pope has been elected is somewhat a recent tradition for the Catholic Church. Cardinal electors in the conclave, which originates from a Latin word meaning "with key," are locked away with no contact to the outside world. So they use one of the oldest methods of long-distance communication: smoke signals.