Posted on 08/18/2009 5:30:00 PM PDT by dynachrome
Civilisation would most likely be finished in the event of a zombie outbreak, claim Canadian mathematicians who have calculated the possible devastation caused by an attack by the fictional monsters. Using models developed to calculate the effects of more plausible pandemics, the team from the University of Ottawa have discovered that unless man struck back quickly and aggressively then they would be doomed.
The scientific paper, which is published in a book Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress, looks at an attack by the undead creatures, who infect the living with a bite.
In their study, titled When Zombies Attack!, the researchers picked classic slow-moving zombies such as those in Dawn of the Dead as models and divided humanity into three: the living, zombies and the removed zombies who had been killed by decapitation.
They concluded there was no point trying to cure those infected or live with them - the best thing was to destroy them as quickly as possible.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Grant money is being wasted on this *scientific* research?
I’m working way too hard for a living......
I wonder if we could get the “global warming scientists” to switch over to zombie control modeling. They could still get full employment, which seems to be the motivation behind their useless simulations, but they would do no damage at all unless we had to deal with a real zombie outbreak. I’d call that a huge improvement from the current cap-and-trade carbon-credit fiasco that is killing our economy.
Any word on what would happen if Godzilla were real?
I don’t get it... this is more “News” than most of what they call news on network television. And with the way Fox does “Breaking News” stories, this ranks right up there with the Hindenburg, The Boston Strangler and Paris Hilton’s new bikini.
“Modelling zombies would be the same as modelling swine flu, with some differences for sure, but it is much more interesting to read.
“They concluded there was no point trying to cure those infected or live with them - the best thing was to destroy them as quickly as possible.”
Buckle your seatbelts.
Zombies have been outsourced to India!
Bollywood zombies doing Thriller!
http://www.kontraband.com/videos/4684/Asian-Thriller/#show
Who would waste their time on a “study” like this?
Did they actually get paid for their time?
If so, who paid for this nonsense?
Thanks for the ping!
He’d be registered to vote in Chicago.
I hope the Canadian taxpayers didn’t have to my for this.
Some Canadians might have to wait a few more weeks to get an MRI, thanks to this study.
Actually, this is a pretty good modeling exercise for scientists trying to understand the spread of epidemics.
Anyone who plays World of Warcraft may remember an outbreak of people becoming ghouls around a year ago. For a day, it was impossible to do anything because the ghoul curse was so contagious. That incident was analyzed by infectious disease specialists whose article about it was published in Science. Even though it happened in a fantasy universe, it gave real insights.
The more we can understand about how diseases are spread, the more we are prepared to contain or halt epidemics/pandemics. Right now, we still know very little. If a tool for gaining insight is a thought exercise based on a silly premise for the amusement of the scientists, the lessons are still valid.
Fido, my favorite zombie.
ROFL! No translation required.
Ah, Bob Hope, he did so much for everyone, and especially the troops. Laughing at his jokes and movies was a real pleasure when I was growing up.
At the time I was a little insulted about the Democrat joke because everyone in my family was of that political persuasion, but after growing up, I realized how right he was.
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