Poll: Zombies Apocalypse: Could it happen?

[Akai Shizuku]

A zombie apocalypse is <url=http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-could-actually-happen.html>very plausible. I wouldn't say it's necessarily going to happen, and I sure as hell hope it doesn't. But it could.

 

[silentsentinel]

No, zombies will never happen not even with viruses. If you think it could you need to research viruses to do some learning. It's nothing but a fantasy.

Some species of wasp inject a virus into caterpillars (after injecting their eggs into them) that forces the caterpillars to protect the wasp larvae from enemies.

A species of worm infects a grasshopper and compels it to commit suicide by drowning.

A type of fungi burrows itself into the brains of ants, compelling them to seek higher ground so that it can explode out of their heads and release its spores.

And what about rabies? A disease that turns people into mindless attackers, spreading infections through bites?

 

[Acidwell]

4. Zombies aren't real.

*harrummph*
That's what you think. The slow-moving silhouettes clawing at my window beg to differ.
Break out the gasoline and miniguns!

In that case remind me to stay far far away from whereever you live

 

[solidstatemind]

Just an FYI:

ALL YOU PEOPLE LINKING TO A SATIRE/COMEDY SITE TO SUPPORT YOUR POINT OF VIEW ARE **NOT** HELPING YOUR CAUSE

 

[gamefreakbsp]

If you are talking about the possibility of a zombie apocolyopse, I will go with yes. There is always a possiblity of something occuring, but I can only speculate at how small the odds are that a zombie apocolypse would happen.

 

[solidstatemind]

We are not insects.

As for rabies, they're not actually mindless or do you not know much about rabies? It really, really fucks with your brain. You're delirious, hallucinating, paranoid and terrified.

And more on-point, you're not DEAD, which I believe is part of the criteria of being a 'zombie'.

 

[theironbat46]

Because zombies aren't real. Lets say by chance one of those methods do ring true from that article. Lets go with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease because it's the most likely of them all. It's a fatal disease so even if it were to become common enough to infect enough people to cause even a small outbreak (It currently affects one in every one million people so that's a lot of infection rates to go up, and the people it shows up in tend to be older then 40, most commonly being seniors so they're not likely to be very fast) they'd all die in less then a year, four months being the average if no one killed them.
So pretty much it'll just be an outbreak of seniors who'll probably just break their legs trying to run after anyone and then lay on the ground in a heap where they can be set ablaze. The comedy site states that a bite can transfer it, I'm not sure but what I've looked up states that blood transfers can so it's possible but again unlikely (And I Wouldn't count on it since I don't think human saliva contains proteins, but I may be wrong on this count) to infect someone.

Oh jesus. Let's NOT talk about CJD, okay? That shit is scary as fuck: although it won't turn you into a zombie, it'll turn your brain into a sponge and kill your ass dead, and that's it... and all it is is a protein folded the wrong way!

Regardless, BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy-- aka Mad Cow disease) and CJD illustrate why a zombie apocalypse could never happen: virii don't distinguish between different areas of the brain. They simply go 'cell type we like... YUM! Let's convert it into a factory to make more of us!' It doesn't matter if it's in the hippocampus or the brain stem... it's all neurons to the virus.

Look, Nanotechnology might be able to render a person into a controllable, seemingly mindless state, but the classic version of a zombie: ie.- a person who is dead and reanimates- will never happen, because dead tissue is decomposing from about five minutes after the blood stops flowing, and decomposing tissue cannot perform useful functions anymore. (Cell walls break down; mitochondria stop working; in the case of nerve and muscle cells: electrical impulses are no longer transmitted because there is no ionic potential... the whole system just STOPS upon death.)

But hey, cling to the nanobot version if you're dreaming about a nightmare future...

I have given up on "RISING FROM THE GRAVE" long ago. How is a human going to claw out of the box, and 6 feet of dirt?

 

[ucciolord1]

4. Zombies aren't real.

*harrummph*
That's what you think. The slow-moving silhouettes clawing at my window beg to differ.
Break out the gasoline and miniguns!

In that case remind me to stay far far away from whereever you live

I'm your neighbor.
Only joking!
[sub]It's not that bad here.... it's just those damn zombies keep popping up out of their graves to do the Thriller dance...[/sub]

 

[probunk]

Yes. Assuming the universe really is constantly expanding and theoretically infinite, it is entirely possible zombies will one day exist. I'm far more concerned about, say, floods, wildfires (though not really here in Southern Ontario), tornados, etc.

 

[(whitty name here)]

I think it would be like a Resident Evil or Dead Rising kind of zombie.
I think man will accidentally/purposely create some sort of biological disease which makes you lose control of motor skills and reason. Maybe with a side effect of murderous personality traits and cannibalism.
They may not be 'dead and come back' zombies but the word itself has multiple definitions.
SO, yeah I can see it happening. But if they will be l4d2 uber fast zombies or dead rising zombies or RE4 mutated fucking assholes is the real question.

EDIT: fixd spelling

 

[silentsentinel]

No, zombies will never happen not even with viruses. If you think it could you need to research viruses to do some learning. It's nothing but a fantasy.

Some species of wasp inject a virus into caterpillars (after injecting their eggs into them) that forces the caterpillars to protect the wasp larvae from enemies.

A species of worm infects a grasshopper and compels it to commit suicide by drowning.

A type of fungi burrows its head into the brains of ants, compelling them to seek higher ground so that it can explode out of its head and release its spores.

And what about rabies? A disease that turns people into mindless attackers, spreading infections through bites?

We are not insects.

As for rabies, they're not actually mindless or do you not know much about rabies? It really, really fucks with your brain. You're delirious, hallucinating, paranoid and terrified.

I know that. I wrote mindless because I'm lazy. It does often increase aggression, though.

And true, we're not insects, but that does not mean that a similar virus/parasite/fungi could arise and effect us. Of course, I'm not going around stockpiling weaponry and drawing escape plans. All I'm saying that if zombie's ever appear on the news, I won't be horribly surprised.

And my third point: if zombies ever arise, it won't be an apocalypse. Humans aren't as incompetent as movies make us out to be. So I agree with one part of your original post.

 

[theironbat46]

http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-could-actually-happen.html You might wanna check this out. And stock pile on egg loaf.

Ah. Damn it, ninja'd me to it.

Never Ninja'ed anyone before. Feels nice.

 

[Acidwell]

4. Zombies aren't real.

*harrummph*
That's what you think. The slow-moving silhouettes clawing at my window beg to differ.
Break out the gasoline and miniguns!

In that case remind me to stay far far away from whereever you live

I'm your neighbor.
Only joking!
[sub]It's not that bad here.... it's just those damn zombies keep popping up out of their graves to do the Thriller dance...[/sub]

in that case your only solution is careful gardening. I recommend a layout like this:

 

[ucciolord1]

4. Zombies aren't real.

*harrummph*
That's what you think. The slow-moving silhouettes clawing at my window beg to differ.
Break out the gasoline and miniguns!

In that case remind me to stay far far away from whereever you live

I'm your neighbor.
Only joking!
[sub]It's not that bad here.... it's just those damn zombies keep popping up out of their graves to do the Thriller dance...[/sub]

in that case your only solution is careful gardening. I recommend a layout like this:

That... that's BRILLIANT!!!!!
Now if only I could find an infectious theme song....
Where oh where could I find one of those....

 

[solidstatemind]

Because zombies aren't real. Lets say by chance one of those methods do ring true from that article. Lets go with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease because it's the most likely of them all. It's a fatal disease so even if it were to become common enough to infect enough people to cause even a small outbreak (It currently affects one in every one million people so that's a lot of infection rates to go up, and the people it shows up in tend to be older then 40, most commonly being seniors so they're not likely to be very fast) they'd all die in less then a year, four months being the average if no one killed them.
So pretty much it'll just be an outbreak of seniors who'll probably just break their legs trying to run after anyone and then lay on the ground in a heap where they can be set ablaze. The comedy site states that a bite can transfer it, I'm not sure but what I've looked up states that blood transfers can so it's possible but again unlikely (And I Wouldn't count on it since I don't think human saliva contains proteins, but I may be wrong on this count) to infect someone.

Oh jesus. Let's NOT talk about CJD, okay? That shit is scary as fuck: although it won't turn you into a zombie, it'll turn your brain into a sponge and kill your ass dead, and that's it... and all it is is a protein folded the wrong way!

Regardless, BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy-- aka Mad Cow disease) and CJD illustrate why a zombie apocalypse could never happen: virii don't distinguish between different areas of the brain. They simply go 'cell type we like... YUM! Let's convert it into a factory to make more of us!' It doesn't matter if it's in the hippocampus or the brain stem... it's all neurons to the virus.

Look, Nanotechnology might be able to render a person into a controllable, seemingly mindless state, but the classic version of a zombie: ie.- a person who is dead and reanimates- will never happen, because dead tissue is decomposing from about five minutes after the blood stops flowing, and decomposing tissue cannot perform useful functions anymore. (Cell walls break down; mitochondria stop working; in the case of nerve and muscle cells: electrical impulses are no longer transmitted because there is no ionic potential... the whole system just STOPS upon death.)

But hey, cling to the nanobot version if you're dreaming about a nightmare future...

I have given up on "RISING FROM THE GRAVE" long ago. How is a human going to claw out of the box, and 6 feet of dirt?

Actually, the human musculature is capable of overcoming that obstacle, provided that the subject does not require air... and frankly, if we're discussing the possibility that neurons would fire and muscle fibers would contract after death, we may as well assume that oxygen isn't a necessity in this equation.

No, the real fear to me about BSE and CJD is that they are a death sentence. Seriously, even the Ebola virus is not 100% fatal. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases are. I am not even kidding in the slightest. You get that shit and you are dead. And what's worse is that you get a front-row seat to yourself losing your sanity as you die. My wife is a neurologist. The only time I've seen her cry is when she had to tell a patient with CJD that there was no hope, no cure. NONE. NOTHING. THAT HE WOULD SLOWLY LOSE HIS MIND AND THEN DIE.

I want y'all to think about that for just a moment before you return to your discussion of the zombie apocalypse...

Oh, and have a nice day!

 

[silentsentinel]

No, zombies will never happen not even with viruses. If you think it could you need to research viruses to do some learning. It's nothing but a fantasy.

Some species of wasp inject a virus into caterpillars (after injecting their eggs into them) that forces the caterpillars to protect the wasp larvae from enemies.

A species of worm infects a grasshopper and compels it to commit suicide by drowning.

A type of fungi burrows its head into the brains of ants, compelling them to seek higher ground so that it can explode out of its head and release its spores.

And what about rabies? A disease that turns people into mindless attackers, spreading infections through bites?

We are not insects.

As for rabies, they're not actually mindless or do you not know much about rabies? It really, really fucks with your brain. You're delirious, hallucinating, paranoid and terrified.

I know that. I wrote mindless because I'm lazy. It does often increase aggression, though.

And true, we're not insects, but that does not mean that a similar virus/parasite/fungi could arise and effect us. Of course, I'm not going around stockpiling weaponry and drawing escape plans. All I'm saying that if zombie's ever appear on the news, I won't be horribly surprised.

And my third point: if zombies ever arise, it won't be an apocalypse. Humans aren't as incompetent as movies make us out to be. So I agree with one part of your original post.

To expand on those fungi you were talking about. One theory is that they evolved as a way to protect the insect's jungle/forest environment from their overpopulation. The fungus infects them and kills a whole bunch of them then recedes for a while and when the populations starts to climb again it'll come out and kill some more. There's a similar type for grass hoppers and other such insects.

Really? That's cool. But does this mean that you accept the remote possibility that such a fungi/bacterium could evolve to infect humanity on some small scale?

 

[ninjajoeman]

Tell me you've seen Let the Right One in.

Of course - it's one of my favourite movies.
I still need to get around to reading the book though.

I meant romantic in a different sense though. Like in the way the whole concept of vampires is beautiful.

you think pale as shit skin or burning flesh in the sun is beautiful? wait are you talking twilight vampires, the vampire vampires, or those really primal vamps?

 

[Acidwell]

That... that's BRILLIANT!!!!!
Now if only I could find an infectious theme song....
Where oh where could I find one of those....

To be honest with you i know its not original but still alive would be the perfect taunt, if they understand it.