Mathematical Model of Zombie Epidemics Reveals Two Types of Living-Dead Strains 163
KentuckyFC writes "Epidemiologists have long known how to model the way disease spreads through a population using a computer simulation. This generally involves three populations of individuals: those who are susceptible to disease, those who are infected and those who recover, return to the population and are no longer susceptible. Researchers then feed data about the number of infections and so on into the model which can then work out the disease characteristics such as infection rates. And with this information, they can predict the future evolution of the disease. Now researchers have used a similar model to simulate the spread of infection during a zombie epidemic. They've gathered infection data from real zombie movies, put this into the model and used it to predict the disease characteristics. The results show two clear types of zombie infection which differ in what happens to people after they die. In the first, epitomized by Night of the Living Dead, everybody who dies becomes a zombie. In the second, as in Shaun of the Dead, not everyone who dies becomes a zombie--contact with a zombie beforehand is required. This allows the interesting dynamic of escaping zombification by committing suicide. It also shows how close these zombies have come to winning. The research isn't entirely frivolous. The researchers say exactly the same process of model-building, data gathering and simulation works equally well on real diseases such as influenza. So their approach is a useful teaching tool for budding epidemiologists of the future."
hehe (Score:5, Funny)
"They've gathered infection data from real zombie movies"
Good! I was afraid they would just make things up.
at last, a flu cure! (Score:3, Funny)
so if i kill myself, i'll avoid influenza! ...wait
Re:hehe (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hehe (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hehe (Score:4, Funny)
Don't tell Twilight fans that. You'll have all the little girls crying out there.