Students research mathematics behind a zombie apocalypse

[Jamash]

I heard this earlier today on Radio 4, it's pretty funny to hear them discussing it seriously and the interviewer trying not to laugh.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8206000/8206612.stm

EDIT: My take on the whole "are infected actually zombies?" argument.

The term 'zombie' refers to a mental state, not a physical state. When people say they feel like a zombie, they're referring to mental weariness more than just being physically tired, and the 'Zombie' cocktail is named so more because of the mental effect of the alcohol, rather than the physical effect, therefore the infected like in Left 4 Dead, Rabid and 28 Days/Weeks Later are zombies due to their mental state, despite not actually being reanimated corpses.

Besides, real life zombies aren't actually people who have died and come back to life, they're people who are under the influence of a powerful neurotoxin, mind control drug and a form of hypnotism, like in the case of Clairvius Narcisse, as documented in the book The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis.

Also, not all reanimated corpses are zombies. A mindless reanimated corpse is a zombie, but a reanimated corpses without diminished mental faculties is a Ghoul.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Essentially, yes. Death is kind of a disability, not something that would grant super speed or strength.

Providing that the neural links between the brain and the body have not been severed then in theory there is no reason why death would make a zombie slow. In fact because all limitations such as pain and the upper limit of strength (your muscles have a physical limit to stop them tearing themselves from the bone due to the contractile strength) have been removed there is a good chance that a reanimated "zombie" would be faster and physically stronger than a human until it begins to decay or it receives a major injury from over straining its muscles.

Yes thats true but the body would be decaying and wouldn't get the proper nutrients and if any zombie scenario happened in my opinion 28 Days Later kinda one is most likely.

Although I don't think it would be the end of the world as zombies wouldn't be capable or thinking of using weapons they would just use they're hands and we have guns so we could just decimate they're bodies stoping the infection.

Besides if zombies are infecting living things like us they're going to need to use our bodies the way we use them now to work so they would need oxegen and pump or blood. So Gas typed attacks would be effective against them.

 

[MarcusD357]

well, thats unlikely to happen as i know the date of the apolcalypse and it is; 13/08/2020!

 

[Aac18]

Yes thats true but the body would be decaying and wouldn't get the proper nutrients and if any zombie scenario happened in my opinion 28 Days Later kinda one is most likely.

Although I don't think it would be the end of the world as zombies wouldn't be capable or thinking of using weapons they would just use they're hands and we have guns so we could just decimate they're bodies stoping the infection.

Besides if zombies are infecting living things like us they're going to need to use our bodies the way we use them now to work so they would need oxegen and pump or blood. So Gas typed attacks would be effective against them.

That's right, I wasn't by any means saying they wouldn't be stoppable (merely that they wouldn't be simple zombies such as the RE1 kind), I personally think that with a combination of gas attacks, quarantine and brute force (read bullets) most infections could be contained before humanity was over-run. The only exception being if the infection which caused the zombies outbreak had a 1-2 day incubation time (in which case it could easily end up all over the world before the it could be quarantined).

Actually a fantastic book that deals with the idea's of a zombie apocalypse is called Patient Zero by Jonathon Maberry (http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/8274427/Patient-Zero/Product.html ) most of its idea's are fairly plausible and it does really bring to light how dangerous such an infection could be.

 

[darthzew]

I'd CQC those muh'fuggers.

No really, no zombie would make it near me.

How are they going to get nowhere near you if you're going to CQC them?

 

[FallenRainbows]

Is an apocalypse a likely situation? I mean, these things are slow moving and dumb. Surely they'd be put down before their numbers got too huge.

Well, what if they're left 4 dead zombies? They're not slow and they're smart enough to cut you off.

They're not true zombies. True zombies don't run.

So what makes a zombie a zombie is that they must be undead and slow?

L4D isn't zombies, its a mutated form of rabies, they didn't die and come back.

 

[KaiRai]

I'd CQC those muh'fuggers.

No really, no zombie would make it near me.

How are they going to get nowhere near you if you're going to CQC them?

I am actually Mr. Tickle, and I'll CQC them with my abnormally long and flexible arms.

 

[Hijou]

Is an apocalypse a likely situation? I mean, these things are slow moving and dumb. Surely they'd be put down before their numbers got too huge.

Well, what if they're left 4 dead zombies? They're not slow and they're smart enough to cut you off.

They're not true zombies. True zombies don't run.

So what makes a zombie a zombie is that they must be undead and slow?

L4D isn't zombies, its a mutated form of rabies, they didn't die and come back.

Left 4 Dead didn't have zombies, it had zoombies!
...
Horrible jokes aside. It was a very...mutative...((mutating?)) disease, but you're correct, they were technically living, not brain hungry, just violent monsters. See Stephen King's Cell for something like it. Minus psy powers.

 

[Sinvel]

Well, there's actually a few articles on how a zombie apocalypse can actually happen:

http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-could-actually-happen.html

I know that it is a humor site but the explanations it gives does kinda make sense in a semi fictional way. Personally if it's the traditional, RE4/dawn of the dead zombies I think we stand a good chance to survive. In that last movie I would probably have stayed in that mall indefinitely -- there were weapons, alot of food, and endless supply of commercial products to entertain yourself -- what more do you want?

But if its those L4D zooombies, they can probably keep up with you if you're flooring it in a car... its game over man!! *que aliens music*