D2Kvirus
08-20-2009, 07:35 PM
They move slowly, crave human flesh and if they try to take over the world there's nothing you can do to stop them, apart from blow their heads off, of course.
Fortunately for us, zombies have been confined to scary movies and Michael Jackson videos but they could end up ruling the planet, scientists believe. And just like the movies, it is important the undead 'are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in trouble,' they concluded.
In their study, the researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University posed a question: If there was to be a battle between zombies and the living, who would win?
They compiled a model of a zombie attack with infection rates based on the 'classical pop-culture zombie – slow-moving, cannibalistic, and undead', seen in movies such as Shaun Of The Dead, rather than the quicker versions in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.
'A zombie outbreak is likely to lead to the collapse of civilisation, unless it is dealt with quickly,' the experts wrote in their scientific paper.
'While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to co-existence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often,' they added.
Prof Neil Ferguson, who advises the British government on controlling the spread of swine flu, said the study had similarites with some infectious diseases.
'None of them actually cause large-scale death or disease but certainly there are some fungal infections which are difficult to eradicate,' he added.
You know we're in the midst of Silly Season when stories like this get printed (in this case in yesterday's Metro) - especially when the bods who did the research failed to read a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide between them...
Fortunately for us, zombies have been confined to scary movies and Michael Jackson videos but they could end up ruling the planet, scientists believe. And just like the movies, it is important the undead 'are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in trouble,' they concluded.
In their study, the researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University posed a question: If there was to be a battle between zombies and the living, who would win?
They compiled a model of a zombie attack with infection rates based on the 'classical pop-culture zombie – slow-moving, cannibalistic, and undead', seen in movies such as Shaun Of The Dead, rather than the quicker versions in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.
'A zombie outbreak is likely to lead to the collapse of civilisation, unless it is dealt with quickly,' the experts wrote in their scientific paper.
'While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to co-existence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often,' they added.
Prof Neil Ferguson, who advises the British government on controlling the spread of swine flu, said the study had similarites with some infectious diseases.
'None of them actually cause large-scale death or disease but certainly there are some fungal infections which are difficult to eradicate,' he added.
You know we're in the midst of Silly Season when stories like this get printed (in this case in yesterday's Metro) - especially when the bods who did the research failed to read a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide between them...