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A Mathematical Model For a Spreading Zombie Infestation
cloude-pottier writes "What do you do when zombies attack? Turn to a mathematician to come up with a model for the spread of a zombie infestation, of course! Students at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have published a paper in a book titled Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress detailing how to model the spread of a zombie population and various complications in managing the spread of the infestation. They even give humans a fighting chance in some cases! The original paper (PDF) can be found at their professor's website."
Don't worry, the Decade of the Zombie is nearly over (also, I think it's clear that 2009 is the Year of the Twat).
Except in this scenario: people obsess so much over how to protect themselves from zombie infestation that scientists, possibly working for the military or NIH, start working on serious protections from zombie-like scenarios. In order to realistically simulate cures and containment tactics, of course, one will need working models... But these tests will all be safely under the control of experienced security experts. Like anthrax.
Yup, we're boned.
Outside of entertainment, Zombies are a metaphor for social unrest. When I was house shopping, my girlfriend asked me what criteria I was using to evaluate properties. I explained that there was price, location, condition, number of bedrooms, yard space, parking, garage space, and defensibility in the event of a zombie holocaust. She thought that I was joking with that last one. Then I explained that I wasn't talking about movie zombies. I was talking about small to medium sized groups of attackers in the event of widespread social unrest. If the economy goes south and we have people robbing and looting, how well can I defend this property? The house that I eventually chose wasn't the highest on the zombie defense mark, but it was in the top third.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
...it should make zombie movies more interesting, not to mention more scary. Human brains (at least the ones not eaten by zombies) are usually fairly good at determining when something is logically consistent.
Oh, good! It's nice to see that I wasn't the only slashdotter to read the summary and think it referred to zombified PCs.
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