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The Great Stanford Buffy Population Equilibrium Study

Posted by chrisd on from the spike-as-cellular-automata dept.

Suture writes "A PhD candidate in ecology at Stanford University has done an ecological analysis of humans and vampires in Sunnydale, the home of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He took some initial assumptions on rates of population growth, vampire feeding, etc and plugged them into a differential equations model. What he got was an equilibrium human population of 36,346, and an vampire population of around 18, and furthermore the equilibrium is stable. His conclusion was that even though the show's designers are not ecologists, they managed to come up with ideas that actually made ecological sense. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see a pretty cool spiral graph of human population vs vampire population."

13 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by unterderbrucke · · Score: 5, Funny

    and I thought I had too much time on my hands...

    1. Re:Wow by UnixRevolution · · Score: 4, Funny

      You mean when i was taking high-school physics and did calculations such as the impact speed of the chalupa on the head of the taco bell dog in the commercial?

      --
      You like your new Mac more than you like me, don't you, Dave? Dave? I asked...She said Yes.
    2. Re:Wow by Dirtside · · Score: 5, Funny

      So instead of wasting your time coming up with vampire population ecology models, you're reading about it on Slashdot. This is something to gloat about? :)

      --
      "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
  2. SW by gummijoh · · Score: 5, Funny

    I got an Phd for making an essay about the fact that Star Wars could not be real... not in this galaxy nor any other!

  3. I think the real question is: by nuwayser · · Score: 5, Funny

    are there enough vampires in sunnyvale to sustain the show for another season?

    --
    "The cup... the drop... it's a YES!"
  4. Hmmmmmm..... by Audacious · · Score: 5, Funny

    The graph looks almost like a bad drawing of Dante's Inferno. Each twist is yet another level leading to hell.

    Which, since Sunnyvale is where the hellmouth is - it sort of all works out. In a strange, sort of demented way.

    (I think I'll go watch the Buffy musical again. It's got class. It's got style. And until you burn up - it sticks with you for a while.)

    --
    Someone put a black hole in my pocket and now I'm broke. :-)
  5. Another stat; good writers do their homework by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    even though the show's designers are not ecologists, they managed to come up with ideas that actually made ecological sense

    Maybe the writers did their research.
    Successful shows usually have good writers who often do their homework.

    Writers could even have first hand vampire experience!
    You never know. Only a slayer can tell!

  6. Article is a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't beleive this paper got published, are you kidding me? He fails to take into account trolls and werewolves, which would skew the numbers towards vampires, as they are natural allies. I too am scientist in the field of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and am preparing my own study, but unlike this quack I'm not throwing it out unfinished in the hopes of garnering awards and acclaim. I hesitate to think of the damage that will be done when people use these figures in their studies.

  7. vampire migration factor by urbazewski · · Score: 5, Funny
    from the article:
    Vampires are flocking to Sunnydale, since the Hellmouth is the underwordly equivalent of Silicon Valley, and the demon labor market is just too good to be true. Thus, we'll assume a yearly migration rate of about 10%, or the same as for the humans.

    It seems the author is forgetting about Angel --- Buffy spinoffs could make m, the rate of vampire migration negative. And should the exodus of VC's from Silicon Valley count as ex-migration of humans or of vampires?

    --
    foldplay your photos won't know what hit them.
  8. Some People are just obsessed! by KristsInferno · · Score: 4, Funny

    I mean, come on! That is as bad as being one of those guys that constantly goes to a website, telling himself that it's "intelligent and newsworthy", but really just wants to post a load of crap to the net so that others might find him cool.


    Oh, shit, wait, I didn't mean.... damn.

  9. meanwhile, in another universe... by Ellen+Ripley · · Score: 5, Funny

    What he got was an equilibrium human population of 36,346, and an vampire population of around 18, and furthermore the equilibrium is stable.

    The Camarilla Princes are going to be really pissed when they find out they've been running at ( 1 / 10^5 ) / ( 18 / 36346 ) of their optimal capacity.

    We Sabbat knew better, of course.

    Cousin Ellen

    --
    mods metamodded as "Unfair"
  10. Re:Ok, this is going to get me branded a geek... by Graspee_Leemoor · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've always wondered how the vampires can even get a stiffy since they don't have a heartbeat....

    Well, yeah, I am a geek and a think too much- so sue me.

    graspee

  11. Re:Spike Quote by dasunt · · Score: 5, Funny

    There are better Spike quotes out there. Such as:
    Spike: I like people. They're like Happy Meals with legs.

    (And note, that is an on-topic quote with regards to the article.)