Humanity’s had a good run on planet Earth, but if 2016 has taught us anything, it’s that everything can fall apart quickly. And if zombies were added to the mix, then we might all be dead in just a little over three months.
Via Live Science, a new science paper published in the University of Leicester’s Journal of Physics Special Topics claims that the world would fall to a zombie apocalypse in about 100 days. And that was under a scenario in which the zombies were slow to spread the infection to different parts of the globe. In other models, humanity’s end could come much sooner.
The study was written by a group of college students who used an SIR Model (where S = number of people who are susceptible, I = the number of infectious people, and R =people who either recovered from the zombie plague or were somehow immune) to determine that each zombie had a 90% chance of infecting at least one person per day. The team also postulated that “each zombie could live 20 days without braaaaaains,” although we think that the Live Science writer may have added the extra “a”s in there. Either way, it equals a far more infectious disease than even the Black Death that decimated Europe nearly 700 years ago.
But don’t pack it in for humanity just yet. The students left at least one critical element out of their initial models: the ability to kill zombies. When it comes to killing things, our species is actually quite good at that. It’s also unclear if the study determined whether the zombies could only shamble along or whether they’re the type that can actually outrun their prey. Then there’s the question of how temperatures would affect the zombies. Would people in colder climates be safer? Or should we all head south?
There are many unanswered questions, but fortunately, we don’t have to come up with those answers!
How do you think the world would handle a zombie apocalypse? Share your predictions below!
Image: AMC
