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Forget swine flu - could we cope with a plague of the Undead? Scientists ponder the threat of a zombie attack
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Link - [link to www.dailymail.co.uk]
Forget swine flu - could we cope with a plague of the Undead? Scientists ponder the threat of a zombie attack
Take a look at the person sitting across from you at the breakfast table. Are they complaining of a high temperature and a sore throat? Do they look a bit peaky, off colour? If so, you could be facing the dreaded pig flu. Time to break out the antiseptic hand gel and get on to the hotline.
But what if that sore throat and high temperature were replaced by a deathly pallor, constant moaning, blank staring eyes, congealed blood around the mouth - and bits of rotting flesh hanging off their body?
Then, dear reader, you would have to conclude that your nearest and dearest was not coming down with swine flu but instead turning into a zombie, one of the Undead.
And then hot drinks, paracetamol and Tamiflu would probably not fix it.
Read more: [link to www.dailymail.co.uk]
The Undead rise again: If zombies existed, they would rapidly destroy everything Humanity has built up
For as a report produced last week by a team of mathematical biologists makes clear, a zombie plague would present - how can I put this? - some interesting challenges for our health service.
Zombies are, of course, (probably) not real. But they form an increasingly big part of popular culture, and a group of Canadian scientists who model the spread of infectious diseases have calculated precisely what would happen if a plague of them did strike.
The results are not pretty - indeed, the report shows that only rapid use of overwhelming military force would save humanity from extinction - but the authors point out that, even though zombies may be imaginary, the findings may be pertinent to the spread of some devastating diseases that are all too real.
Published in Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress, the paper - entitled When Zombies Attack! Mathematical Modelling Of An Outbreak Of Zombie Infection - studies the likely course of a zombie plague with splendidly poker-faced seriousness.
And the lesson it draws? Faced with a legion of undead ghouls, humanity must react quickly and forcefully if it wants to come out on top.
As the scientists' paper concludes: 'The most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often. It is imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly. Or else we are all in a great deal of trouble.'
Yes, I know this all seems preposterous, but stick with me - for this is a highly entertaining and oddly instructive journey.
In popular horror culture, a 'zombie' is a reanimated human corpse that feeds on living human flesh, infecting its victims in the process and making them zombies, too.
Unlike vampires, who are similarly undead but have guile, cunning and wit, zombies are typically portrayed as mindless automata, capable of doing little but relentlessly pursuing their quarry, usually with their arms held out in front of them while emitting a groaning dirge.
The legend of the Zombie originally arose among the Voodoo sorcerers of the Caribbean, but the idea of a plague of the Undead threatening civilisation was popularised in George Romero's classic 1968 low-budget film The Night Of The Living Dead.
This established the key elements of zombie lore: ghoulish moaning monsters, infecting humans by biting or spraying them with bodily fluids, and whose population increases exponentially as a result.
Zombies are relentless, impervious to pain, fear or reason and can be killed only by using brute force - smashing their brains to a pulp with a blunt instrument is best.
more at above link
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