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RandySF

(59,162 posts)
Tue Apr 5, 2016, 04:23 AM Apr 2016

7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail (Quickly)

#7. They Have Too Many Natural Predators
If you're saying, "Sure, but it's not like my city is full of bears that can come eat all the zombies," you need to think smaller. Insects are a major pain in the ass for living humans, and in some cases, being able to swat away flies and having an immune system is the only thing keeping us from having our eyes and tongues eaten out by maggots. Zombies in any part of the world with a fly problem are going to be swarming with maggots in short order, meaning that most of their soft tissues will be infested, and their eyes will be very quickly useless.

#6. They Can't Take the Heat
The first concern is putrefaction. Thanks to the plethora of bacteria we use in our colon for digesting plant matter, called gut flora, our bodies are ripe for decay the second our heart stops. Since heat speeds the growth of bacteria (which are plenty happy to start feasting on you once your immune system is no longer a concern) the zombie's got a looming expiration date the very second it turns.

#5. They Can't Handle the Cold
Now, your first inclination may be to think of cold as dead meat's friend, after all, the surest way to defeat that week-long deadline is to freeze steak, keeping it fresh for months. But don't forget: Unregulated cold does awful shit to formerly living things. If you live far enough north, the zombie apocalypse will probably work itself out the first time it tries to go outside. The first zombie-killer is the simple fact that the human body is mostly water, and water freezes. Once the temperature drops to freezing (or near it with a high wind chill), zombies will become significantly more rigid.

#4. Biting is a Terrible Way to Spread a Disease
Nearly all of the zombie movies agree on one thing: They reproduce like a disease, one that spreads via a bite from the infected (like they have a virus carried by zombie saliva or whatever). But this also means their spread should be subject to the same rules of a normal epidemic, and biting is a shitty way to get an epidemic going.

#3. They Can't Heal from Day to Day Damage
All the dings and bangs zombies will suffer after tripping, walking off of bridges and stumbling around on dark cloudy nights will eventually leave them limbless, toothless and with every bone in their body broken. Seriously, in the event of the Zombie Apocalypse, just stay inside, watch all the episodes of 24 back to back, then walk out on your lawn with your Corpse Rake and tidy up (you will have to buy a Corpse Rake, however, if for some reason you don't already have one).

#2. The Landscape is Full of Zombie-Proof Barriers
But even in nice, flat, paved cities, where it would seem like people would be extra-fucked, the landscape still works in favor of the living. History has shown that in most awful situations, people don't always act like the panicky idiots in a horror movie. In cities, people would likely congregate in the upper levels of high-rise buildings, where the invasion can be held at bay with simple security doors. Also, the streets themselves would keep the undead corralled in straight, easy-to-aim-down lines where they could be picked off by snipers, or just bored office-workers waiting out the quarantine by dropping office supplies onto the undead from the top floors.

#1. Weapons and the People Who Use Them
As we touched on briefly above, if Homo sapiens are good at one thing, it's killing other things. We're so good at it that we've made entire other species cease to exist without even trying. Add to the mix the sheer number of armed rednecks and hunters out there, and the zombies don't even stand a chance. There were over 14 million people hunting with a license in the U.S. in 2004. At a minimum, that's like an armed force the size of the great Los Angeles area.


http://www.cracked.com/article_18683_7-scientific-reasons-zombie-outbreak-would-fail-quickly.html
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7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail (Quickly) (Original Post) RandySF Apr 2016 OP
Damn-it man, I'm still trying to finish my Zombie moat. denbot Apr 2016 #1
Like the CDC NewJeffCT Apr 2016 #2
Maybe we should make cremation mandatory, just in case... First Speaker Apr 2016 #3
They left out vultures csziggy Apr 2016 #4
Vultures, seagulls, coyotes, wolves... Pakhet Apr 2016 #6
Living in Minnesota, I always figured I'd be golden come the zombie apocalypse NickB79 Apr 2016 #5
Don't rain on our parade, OK? nt Laffy Kat Apr 2016 #7
I'm sorry, but this is such bullshit jpak Apr 2016 #8

denbot

(9,901 posts)
1. Damn-it man, I'm still trying to finish my Zombie moat.
Tue Apr 5, 2016, 05:57 AM
Apr 2016

And what am I going to do with all these freeze dried spaghetti packs, if a zombie apocalypse fizzes out?

[IMG][/IMG]

csziggy

(34,137 posts)
4. They left out vultures
Tue Apr 5, 2016, 12:51 PM
Apr 2016

Vultures can smell putrefaction and will swarm on rotten things. Soon as the zombies start to stink, vultures will land and rip them apart!

Pakhet

(520 posts)
6. Vultures, seagulls, coyotes, wolves...
Tue Apr 5, 2016, 07:56 PM
Apr 2016

I've always said that they will take care of the zombies for us.

NickB79

(19,258 posts)
5. Living in Minnesota, I always figured I'd be golden come the zombie apocalypse
Tue Apr 5, 2016, 06:27 PM
Apr 2016

As long as I can wait them out the summer (and that's only like what, 4-5 weeks up here?), I can just go for a relaxing stroll on any below-zero day, whacking frozen zombies in the head with a hammer as I go.

Come spring, there won't be a functional zombie for miles.

jpak

(41,758 posts)
8. I'm sorry, but this is such bullshit
Tue Apr 5, 2016, 09:14 PM
Apr 2016

#7 The recently departed will turn with their immune systems fully intact - the parasite will ensure this.

#6 see #1

#5 OK, I live in Maine - it sux to be in Florida

#4 tell that to the rabies infected mammals and mosquitoes and ticks - hahahaha

#5 - yeah they might be morans but the ones that fall off stuff are repugs and would fuck up anyway

#6 ummm zombies - like all animals - use Levy Walks - to optimize predator foraging of the living - barrier fail, they will find you

#7 really? How much ammo do you have?

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