Science ponders 'zombie attack'

This was a bit of an awkward thread as I was not sure wether to put this in the science forum or skunk works.. but as it relates more to do with infectious diseases and the spread of them then this seems like the most reasonable place.

It is pleasing to know that whilst we have the swine flu floating around and other highly deadly infections orbiting our world in some part or another, there are those who prefer to study the living dead.. or the possibilty of it and how the living would combat the dead as we have seen from many a film.

Ok, they have just used it as for a research paper and have probably gained quite an insight into the spread of such diseases...not that we don't have enough already.. but it is interesting none the less.

If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.

That is the conclusion of a mathematical exercise carried out by researchers in Canada.

They say only frequent counter-attacks with increasing force would eradicate the fictional creatures.

The scientific paper is published in a book - Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress.

news.bbc.co.uk...

We have seen many a film where the zombies stumble and walk around aimlessly until some unfortunate souls manage to get within biting range and it is these types that the study was based on.. so imagine if zombies were actually more like the type we have seen in more recent movies.. fast, highly mobile, strong and immune to most damage.

We wouldn't stand much chance.. i don't think a dead body would need oxygen to power its muscles as the living needs it.. the living would soon run out of steam in a chase..

In their study, the researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University (also in Ottawa) posed a question: If there was to be a battle between zombies and the living, who would win?

Professor Robert Smith? (the question mark is part of his surname and not a typographical mistake) and colleagues wrote: "We model a zombie attack using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies.

"We introduce a basic model for zombie infection and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions."

their analysis revealed that a strategy of capturing or curing the zombies would only put off the inevitable.

In their scientific paper, the authors conclude that humanity's only hope is to "hit them [the undead] hard and hit them often".

They added: "It's imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly or else... we are all in a great deal of trouble."

According to the researchers, the key difference between the zombies and the spread of real infections is that "zombies can come back to life".

Scary stuff indeed.. Let's hope we don't wake up one morning to such a situation.. but it does make me wonder why they felt the need to carry out such a study... Do they know something we don't?

I'm all for zombie invasions...

I wonder if they factored in the fact most people are extremely stupid and would try to fight the zombies instead of fortifying and living it out until the big guns get there.

Who's going to meet me at the mall?

Indeed, even as a fan of zombie lore in general, I find the possibility of this a bit scary. Still I imagine the 28 days later form of zombie is most likely. Sentient or not, our cells need oxygen to operate, thus the need for a circulatory system. If they run in anaerobic mode for too long, they overheat and burn out. That being said, I think a virus controlled human with an overrun anger mechanism would be an incredibly dangerous beast, but if it bleeds, it will die.

I, for one, would be joining you in the mall, Tentickles... or maybe home depot. :-P

[edit on 8-18-2009 by rogerstigers]

reply to post by Tentickles


If it comes to pass, then I'll be one of the first join up with you in any mall of your choice


reply to post by rogerstigers


I think this is a more interesting point about any zombie infection.. not the disease itself but how would the disease control a dead body? How would the body react?

Would we see a strong, fast rabid animal running us down or would we be able to stand in front of them and blow raspberries?

Can we pick our new mall?
It just opened and it has a bass pro shop and a grocery store in it. Plus the usual luxury clothing, electronic and furniture stores. It also has solar collectors and it gets 40% of it's water from roof top collectors.

reply to post by Extralien


Aye, well, I made my preference known I guess it *could* go either way, really.. a "Sean of the Dead" form of Zombie vs. a "28 days later" form of zombie. It would certainly be easier to kill the shambling semi-cohearant ones, but the idea of an adrenaline filled rage machine is encouraging because the human body would burn out faster.

Wow, this really *must* be a slow ATS day if we are discussing semantics on Zombie instances and attributes of public nudity (differant thread).

reply to post by exile1981

Originally posted by exile1981
Can we pick our new mall?
It just opened and it has a bass pro shop and a grocery store in it. Plus the usual luxury clothing, electronic and furniture stores. It also has solar collectors and it gets 40% of it's water from roof top collectors.

Wow. Um, yeah, can't really think of a better place to ride out the zombie apocalypse. The only problem might be all of the windows for "natural lighting". Zombies tend to smash those things eventually.


[edit on 8-18-2009 by rogerstigers]

Love this topic.
Just finished reading "World War Z" by the same writer (Max Brooks) as the Zombie Survival Guide.
You could kind of read either, as an "infectious disease" guide as well.

I posted a thread on fungus, controlling ants before they die, to make them go to an environment more suited for the fungus to thrive. Meanwhile, the fungus consume everything inside the ant, except the muscles, which the fungus still use, to control the ants mandibles. haha.

For the zombies not needing oxygen for their muscles, this holds true for a while. But the muscles will eventually break down and tear from the tendons. This would partially be the cause of the look, that some cinematic zombies portray, when walking.

I think the progression of decay, would be most likely. They would start out fairly limber, and not tiring, would seem to give them non human strength. This would be their most dangerous time. But they would start to decay etc.

And since the psychological advantage of "fear" in war would be useless, we'd have to come up with something else. "Shock and Awe" would not work. haha.

Cool topic. S&F.

Originally posted by Demoncreeper
I posted a thread on fungus, controlling ants before they die, to make them go to an environment more suited for the fungus to thrive. Meanwhile, the fungus consume everything inside the ant, except the muscles, which the fungus still use, to control the ants mandibles. haha.

And since the psychological advantage of "fear" in war would be useless, we'd have to come up with something else. "Shock and Awe" would not work. haha.

Loved that thread, btw. That was a great find. Obviously a psy-ops campaign would not work against zombies, though I wonder if they would be labeled terrorists anyway? *smirk*

Hmm. I wonder if tazers would work for disabling a zombie while not spraying their infected blood all over the place.

reply to post by Extralien


I used to commute by train and i know for a fact zombies have been among us for years and they don't attack!!!

As a matter of fact they are pretty docile and seem to ignore the living constantly. So i guess an attack is out of the question..

S+F for the thread

Peace

oh and since you asked

If you like it, FLAG IT!!!!!..... And don't forget to DIGG it too.

...i DUGG it

[edit on 18/8/2009 by operation mindcrime]

This Post Rocks!

Years being a fan of this genre in film. I often wondered if anyone seriously considered the undead as a form of bio weapon.

"Blame Canada!" ( Ode to South Park the movie)

Don't wanna get too technical. I'm not saying this a plan in the works but I would think "THEY" would use electric impulses, radiowaves and implants to control the legions of the dead.

Elements of Manchurian Cannidate plus HAARP = an engineered NWO scenario!

"And the dead shall walk the earth..."

reply to post by Extralien

but it does make me wonder why they felt the need to carry out such a study...

Exactly... the thought that someone felt it necessary to look into this is a bit worrying. So is it a case of "when" and not "if" it happens. lol.

zombie films always creep me out.. I hope we never have to use their research lol.

JQ.

Originally posted by rogerstigers
reply to post by exile1981

 

Originally posted by exile1981
Can we pick our new mall?
It just opened and it has a bass pro shop and a grocery store in it. Plus the usual luxury clothing, electronic and furniture stores. It also has solar collectors and it gets 40% of it's water from roof top collectors.

Wow. Um, yeah, can't really think of a better place to ride out the zombie apocalypse. The only problem might be all of the windows for "natural lighting". Zombies tend to smash those things eventually.

Most of the windows are on the roof or 8-10 feet in the air. Unfortunately the Bass Pro shop has big windows in the boating department...

Of course you are all forgetting how 'PC' the west is now these zombies would have lawyers trying to fight their case for equal rights!!

But off all the TEOTWAWKI sits this would be my preference.

I think that everyone, myself included, categorizes every movie out there, that deals with mindless flesh eating humans as zombies, even if they arent actually dead.
The ones in I am Legend, who were actually just mutated living humans, would be the ones that I would be most afraid of.
They actually kept at least some of their intelligence, they were very strong, powerful and fast, in fact they could be considered super-human and if they hadnt actually de-evolved in so many ways, they could have been considered to be humans in an evolved state due to their strength and speed.

In fact, I seen a documentary that said that evolutions could be caused by some viruses that create mutations in humans..

reply to post by Kr0n0s


Good call. I had forgotten about the I am Omega/I am Legend zombies. They pretty much fall in line with the zombies from 28 days later, humans who have had their pre-frontal cortex disconnected and adrenal systems hard wirded to ON, but essentially human. Course the I Am Legend zombies began to recuperate their basic higher level functions which would hopefully mean that basic ego and concience functions would eventually enable... that makes them temporarily more dangerous, but more likely to survive and recover.

I AM LEGEND was vampires, not Zombies. Well, at least the ones in the book.

Personally, I think we should all get our houses in order, as the zombie outbreak WILL HAPPEN!

Wow, you know I never made the vampire connection in I am Legend but thinking back they did have some of the stereotypical characteristics.
Most notably, the damage they sustain from UV rays.
Never read the book, didnt even know there was one.

The book is a work of fictional mastery!

On the Vampire front, it breaks down EVERYTHING vampire. This one man, (who isn't a doctor) lives in Compton (in the 70s, when it was a white neighborhood) doing makeshift experiments on the blood he harvests from vamps that he kills during the day. It's a real journey into the mind and phyche of this man who is all alone for four years. The ending is a brutal payoff and is THE ONLY ENDING that justifies that I AM LEGEND title.

I wonder why people don't think this out properly.

Dead bodies rot. Regarless of the stamina of the zombies, their muscles and such would rot and within four months or so, all survivors will be able to roam free.

Unless this virus has a way of turning blood into embalming fluid? Seriously.

"Zombie Apocolypse" is one of the more pleasant ways for population control.

Plenty of people would survive.

Now the ECOSYSTEM. THAT would be a question to ask. Could other mammals be infected besides humans? If so THEN we'd be SCREWED.

Zombie bears? Good Game.

No, ZOMBIES do NOT rot. It's something that scientists are trying to figure out.

Have you not read WWZ or the Zombie Survival Guide?

I touched roughly on my old blog about it, but I believe it has something to do with a protein based enzyme biproduct from the blood cells no longer processing oxygen. The cells still circulate, and the heart still pumps...but the body no longer requires oxygen. So the cells secrete this enzyme that crates a slimy sheen on the skin, coating it and keeping it from killing the skin cells.