Zombies... Lovely, poor zombies, they are being killed, but they are not finished, poor things. The very theme of the living dead is extremely delivering: everyone is uncomfortable with the idea that billions of dead people will rise from their graves and have to defend themselves. Many dudes stubbornly believe that all voodoo magic is bullshit, but in this post we will delve a little into the wrong steppe. A zombie may well be still alive, but at the same time he may categorically not think anything. So fear, dear reader, today we will tell you why the zombie apocalypse is real and which scenarios are the most real.

2. Neurotoxins

There is indecent a large number of poisons that slow down almost the entire vital activity of the body. Only a good doctor can understand whether a person is completely or only partially dead. An example of such poisons is the poison of puffer fish. After poisoning, the victim is brought out of the trance with special drugs, loses his memory and personality, turning into a real zombie. By the way, all those talks about Haiti and zombie plantation workers are the real truth, especially considering that they are quite alive, but submissive and dumb as a cork.

3. Rabies virus

Like in the movie 28 Days Later. In fact, it’s quite a real thing, especially considering that there is a mad cow virus in the world. Check if you have any of his symptoms:

• change in gait;
• hallucinations;
• problems with coordination (for example, stumbling and falling);
• muscle twitching;
• myoclonic seizures or convulsions;
• rapidly developing delirium or dementia.

Given that such a virus is transmitted through blood and saliva, it can be considered a very real threat of a zombie invasion. Only now it is rarely found in nature. But aggression with the desire to break and bite will be available.

4. Neurogenesis, stem cells and other joys of science

With the help of stem cells, it is absolutely possible to renew the human brain, at least everything is going towards this. And here the time has come for real paranoia for fans of zombiefication. Let them replace arms and legs, but the crippled brain, restored by cells with the same flaws as its “mother brain”, will be just as incapacitated, but it will be new. Also, the body can be kept in suspended animation for some time, but the resuscitation of this person can bring certain problems with it due to the destruction of the cerebral cortex. Let the human brain be new, but the connections in it will be lost, the personality will degrade to the state of a child, you will have to re-teach him everything, but he will be happy to watch TV shows based on the Russian zombie box. Simply put, it will be a zombie, because it will not have a personality, but there will be obedience and humility.

5. Nanobots

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Nanotechnologies are being developed not only in Russia. Small nimble robots will soon be able to build a small city inside a person or destroy their carrier. And why can't such babies destroy the connections in the human brain? Yes Easy! Read a good science fiction novel "Invincible" by Stanislav Lem about small nanobots. Let's assume that the bots will remain in our bodies after death, that they should be reanimated your body? And imagine that there will be as many such bots in the bodies of a person as there are leukocytes. Scary? To horror!

The development of new technologies, the availability of information and the rapid reaction of the media to any events in the world - all this leads to the fact that the excitement around the next possible "end of the world" is becoming stronger.

The YUGA.ru portal publishes the 10 most popular versions of the Apocalypse scenarios.

1. Aliens

Aliens abduct, capture, and massacre the Earth's population in most science fiction films and books. However, in Lately this topic has ceased to be the lot of exclusively ufologists, becoming the subject of discussion by serious scientists.

So, in early 2010, the British Royal Society held hearings on the topic: "Detection of extraterrestrial life and its consequences for science and society", which was attended by leading experts in the field of astronomy, astrophysics and biology, as well as specialists from NASA, the European Space Agency and the United Nations Agency for Outer Space Affairs.
One of the topics for discussion was appearance potentially existing inhabitants of other worlds and their potential danger to earthlings, and in the speeches of many scientists there was a pessimistic view of the consequences of possible contact with other civilizations.

Then the famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said that humanity should be wary of colonization by aliens. According to one of the best minds of our time, aliens can simply use the Earth as a source of resources in order to casually capture it and move on.
"If inhabitants of other worlds fly to us, then the consequences may be the same as for the Indians after the arrival of Columbus in America, that is, not the best," Hawking emphasized.

At the same time, methods for searching for extraterrestrial intelligence continue to improve. For example, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz Frank Donald Drake founded the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) organization half a century ago, which is engaged in the search for alien activity, suggested using the so-called. Einstein lenses.
And a specialist in physics and astronomy Marcelo Glaser from Dartmouth College improved the so-called. the Drake equation is a formula that can be used to calculate the number of intelligent civilizations with which earthlings could come into contact.

In addition, Bulgarian scientists from the Space Research Institute in January 2010 stated that they had made contact with aliens and learned from them what exactly would happen to humanity in 2012. And representatives of the Klingon-Terran Research Ensemble not only staged the first opera in the Klingon language, but also directly invited representatives of this alien civilization of humanoid warriors from the Star Trek universe to personally participate in the premiere.

2. Black holes

There is a widespread belief that the operation of the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, could trigger the formation of black holes that would engulf our planet.

One of the main tasks of the LHC is the search for the Higgs boson, a theoretically predicted elementary particle that is responsible for mass. It is believed that the launch of the collider at full capacity, necessary for this, can lead to a global catastrophe. According to pessimists, the artificial production of a particle that creates the entire mass of the universe can cause a chain reaction of involuntary mass growth with the appearance of a black hole.
In this regard, many serious scientists are sure that at the initial stage, they tried to interfere with the work of the LHC from the future or another dimension in order to prevent the emergence of a black hole or the appearance of a portal to a parallel universe.

Earlier, the head of CERN, Ralf-Dieter Heuer, promised that the doomsday expected by many will not happen, because. the collider is safe "within three dimensions".
"You can talk about micro-"black holes" that, supposedly, if they were created, they would decay like any normal particles. Can we create such holes at the LHC? Yes. But if we live in more than three-dimensional dimension. I can't exclude this: an ant that crawls on a table sees only two dimensions", he explained.

And according to one of the latest hypotheses of astrophysics, put forward in April 2010, our Universe itself is located inside a black hole, which is located in another world different from ours.

3. Catastrophe of extraterrestrial origin

The catastrophic consequences of the fall of comets or asteroids are traditionally considered the cause of the mass death of biological species on Earth.

In particular, a fallen meteorite was also recognized as the culprit for the death of dinosaurs. At the same time, it was found that its real dimensions were much smaller than previously thought. Based on the abundance of the light isotope osmium in oceanic sediments, experts from Harvard University found that the object that wiped out the dinosaurs was 4.1 to 4.4 kilometers across. Previously, the size of a cosmic body that fell to Earth about 65 million years ago was estimated at 15-19 km in diameter.

And the fall of the Tunguska meteorite, which brought down more than 2 thousand kilometers of square forests in a blast wave, is also considered one of the causes of global warming.

According to scientists' calculations, the nearest collision of our planet with a large asteroid may occur in 18 years, on April 13, 2029. If the asteroid 2004 MN4, which has a diameter of about 396 meters, collides with the Earth's surface, tsunamis in the oceans and significant destruction on land are possible. According to scientists, the energy released in the event of a collision of this asteroid with the Earth will be equal to 1600 megatons.
The Potentially Hazardous Asteroid is rated 2 out of 10 on the Turin Impact Hazard Scale, which astronomers use to assess the threat to Earth from an asteroid or comet nucleus. Previously, none of the open small celestial bodies did not receive more than one point on this scale.

However, the probability of this event is estimated as 1 in 300 and can be reduced after further study of the asteroid's trajectory. In addition, experts believe that by this time an early warning system for possible space threats will have been developed.

4. Gamma burst

Gamma-ray bursts are large-scale cosmic bursts of energy that are observed in distant galaxies. Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful sources of energy in the universe and are capable of releasing as much energy in seconds as our Sun will release over 10 billion years.

It is assumed that a directed gamma-ray burst towards our planet can lead to mass extinction on the ground. Thus, the famous theoretical physicist and popularizer of science Michio Kaku writes in his book "Physics of the Impossible":
“If the flow of gamma radiation would be directed exactly at the Earth, and the source itself would be in our galactic neighborhood (at a distance of several hundred light years from the Earth), its power would be enough to completely destroy life on our planet.
At first, an electromagnetic pulse created by X-rays from a source of gamma-ray bursts would disable all electronic equipment on Earth. A powerful beam of X-ray and gamma radiation would cause irreparable harm to the earth's atmosphere, destroying the protective ozone layer. The gamma ray would then heat up the Earth's surface, setting off monstrous firestorms that would eventually engulf the entire planet. Maybe the source of gamma-ray bursts would not have blown up the planet, as shown in the movie " star Wars", but would surely destroy all life on it, leaving behind a charred desert."

5. Diseases

Infectious diseases have endangered humanity throughout its existence. The plague destroyed almost half of the population of those countries in which outbreaks of epidemics occurred. The prevalence of HIV infection by the beginning of the 21st century has acquired the character of a pandemic. Every time a person tries to enter a habitat alien to him, he exposes himself to the action of a huge number of dangerous microorganisms: SARS, bird and swine flu, Ebola.

The greatest concern among scientists is the emergence of superbugs - multidrug-resistant strains that are not amenable to treatment with traditional drugs. Some experts believe that one of the driving forces behind the emergence of these strains is the use of antibiotics.

In addition to the growth in the number infectious diseases, the frequency of occurrence of hereditary pathologies increases every year. The advances of modern medicine and the lack of natural selection mean that people with weak genes and congenital deformities survive and pass those genes on. Ultimately, the degeneration of the gene pool can lead to the fact that humanity will be unable to resist even the mildest diseases.

Another factor that can lead to the extinction of the human race is the problem of infertility. So, a new study conducted by specialists from the University of Turku in Finland showed that the quality and quantity of sperm in men has deteriorated significantly over the past decade. This is facilitated by exposure to industrial chemicals, as well as excessive coffee consumption, obesity, and frequent use of mobile phones and laptops.

6. Third World War using the latest weapons

Nuclear war, which will lead to nuclear winter and global radioactive contamination, was considered one of the possible outcomes Cold War in the second half of the 20th century.

In case of application nuclear weapons in the Third World War, most of humanity can be destroyed. But even a limited nuclear conflict would catastrophically change climate and environmental conditions and affect the entire Earth. Such hypothetical changes are called nuclear autumn.
Experts believe that in the case of limited nuclear war possible acid rain, soil contamination, local epidemics of radiation sickness and mass death many representatives of the plant and animal world.

Another option could be a world war using biological weapons. The damaging effect of such weapons is based, first of all, on the use of the properties of pathogenic strains of microorganisms and their metabolic products. In addition to the destruction of humanity, biological weapons can have an unpredictable impact on the state of the biosphere.

7. Robots

Development information technologies and the advances of modern robotics raise fears that sooner or later robots may conquer the earth.
So, an employee of the University of California, professor of computer science Michael Dyer believes that in a few hundred years there may be no living people left on earth.

Dyer identified four scenarios that could lead to the replacement of humans or other living beings by robots, and believes that this is the fate that awaits most living beings in space exploration.
First, the dominance of robots over humans can arise through dependence on technology. The ever-increasing dependence on machines to do our work may one day reach a critical point where robots will rise up against their creators.
The second option assumes that robots will replace humans during the arms race.
The third way can be the natural desire of mankind for immortality, as a result of which consciousness will be transferred to an electronic medium. One of the most famous futurologists in the world, Raymond Kurzweil, is sure that it will be possible to completely copy the brain of any person in 20 years.
According to the scientist, by 2014 the power of a supercomputer will be comparable to the power of the human brain, and in the 2020s, nanobots will be widely used in medicine, which will be able to deliver food to the cells of the body, remove waste, and also scan nervous system which will allow you to fully understand the nuances of the brain. By 2029, a computer will be able to completely imitate the work of the brain, including passing the Turing test, after which a technological singularity will come by 2045.
The fourth path of development, according to Dyer's assumptions, is connected precisely with travel in interstellar space. Travel creates serious problems for our body. And synthetic organisms can withstand a wide range of conditions, both during flight and on other planets. If the new planet turns out to be inhospitable for biological objects, then it will not matter for robots.

Guided by these considerations, Dyer came to the conclusion that if aliens ever arrive on our planet, then most likely they will also turn out to be artificial life forms.

8. Sun

The sun is extremely important for life on Earth, but it can also become a threat.

The processes that take place in the sun Negative influence on technologies on which humanity is increasingly dependent. Thus, solar flares can disrupt radio communications and power supply, and lead to fires. Even minor solar storms have a devastating impact, damaging electrical and communications infrastructure and causing havoc around the world.

One of the possible options for the end of the world is the occurrence of an extremely powerful flash that will suddenly hit the Earth. Also, scientists do not exclude the hypothetical possibility of the opposite option. Experts believe that some natural disasters may limit the access of sunlight to our planet, leading to a cooling of the Earth.

9. Supervolcanoes

Supervolcanoes are called volcanoes that produce extremely powerful and voluminous eruptions. Such eruptions can lead to the fact that the landscape and climate on our planet will change radically. The result of these changes will be catastrophic consequences, such as a volcanic winter.

By analogy with nuclear winter, volcanic occurs as a result of severe pollution of the atmosphere with ash and combustion products as a result of a volcanic eruption. As a result of such pollution, the radiation of the Sun is filtered much more strongly than usual, which leads to global cooling and mass extinction of species. According to one theory, the Toba eruption 74 thousand years ago was the reason for the reduction of the world population of the ancestors of modern humans to about 10 thousand individuals.

In our time greatest danger volcanic winter comes from the Yellowstone supervolcano in Yellowstone national park in USA. In a very real scenario of the eruption of this volcano, millions or even billions of people could become victims around the world.

The danger of supervolcanoes is that, unlike other threats to humanity, such as space impacts or nuclear attack, there is no strategy to prevent a super-eruption.

10. Zombies

The zombie apocalypse is one of the most popular doomsday scenarios in modern culture. The problem of survival in a zombie virus pandemic, when uninfected people remain in the minority, is devoted to a large number of books and science fiction films.

Recently, however, scientists have somewhat reduced the skepticism associated with this topic. Thus, employees of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considered that a zombie attack is a universal example of an emergency situation. Based on these considerations, experts have published the first official instructions in the event of a massive invasion of zombies. The person who can survive the zombie apocalypse will be able to handle any danger, according to the CDC.

Also, Italian physicists have developed the most effective demeanor for salvation during the invasion of zombies. And Canadian mathematicians have calculated the optimal strategy to deal with the invasion of the living dead. According to scientists from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, zombies can take over a city of half a million people in just three days. In this case, the most effective option is the total destruction of all carriers of the zombie virus.

In addition, the popular American science magazine Wired presented the top 10 reasons why being a zombie is not very convenient from a practical point of view.

And in 2003, the American writer Mel Brooks (author of the script for the series "Batman of the Future" and "Justice League") wrote the bestseller "A Guide to Surviving Among the Zombies", in which he described the living dead as real natural phenomenon, which people have encountered since ancient times.

Whether the zombie apocalypse could actually be a matter of opinion and discussion. Let's put it this way: with modern possibilities in various fields of science, such a conversion of a dead man is impossible. But who knows what the science of the future will “grow” and what “recipes” will appear? Those who are preparing to survive the zombie apocalypse know that science has nothing against zombies. Finally and.

Many zombie myths originated from superstitions in Africa and the Caribbean. This is not a surprising fact, given the large number of zombies in tropical regions where zombified people were used as free labor.

Since their first appearance in history, zombies have had a profound impact on our world, from religion to art. It's hard to find an aspect of society that hasn't been affected by the undead. However, without delving into the breadth of the phenomenon, we will simply consider the undocumented, but declared capabilities of zombies.

ZOMBIES - REANIMATED CORPSES.

Hanging in tatters of bites, flesh-destroying zombies. catatonia, cold temperature, black blood, no bleeding - the heart of the dead does not function. Dead victims of a bite are driven by one instinct - the search for living flesh, food (this zombie differs from the Haitian zombies, which are simply controlled by the "owner").

This happens in almost every movie about the zombie apocalypse, when crowds of gnawed corpses move in the direction of hiding people in search of food. Zombies are relentless and do not pay attention to pain - there are no receptors, neural connections are broken.

The body of a dead zombie functions thanks to the power of the "supervirus", when it revives the body with a dead consciousness, therefore, even losing limbs. Bitten or scratched by the infected dies and then returns as zombies, so they quickly evolve and take over territories.

Like many monsters, zombies have roots in folklore and, according to some researchers, are real participants in the events in Haiti. Here we look at the Haitian zombified, and the options for escaping the zombies.

HAITIAN ZOMBIES.

Zombies have taken root well in Haitian stories and mythology. Researchers who have studied Haitian culture have told countless stories of victims whose bodies were brought back to life by bokors or sorcerers.

Such zombies are mindless slaves. They are not self-aware and are not particularly dangerous unless they are given salt that restores senses and consciousness. Stories like these are like campfire tales—they catch on to the listener’s deepest fears and seem believable despite their improbability.

Even after studying numerous stories and rumors, the researchers did not find convincing evidence to recognize the phenomenon of zombification of people.

Oftentimes, supposed zombies received little to no medical attention until their apparent death, simply falling into a prostration from psychological exhaustion. Researchers have encountered mistaken identity and fraud.

And yet, the phenomenon cannot be completely dismissed, because there are indeed unique cases.

I AM A ZOMBIE.

In 1980, a man appeared in a Haitian village claiming to be Clairvius N., who died at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Dechapel on May 2, 1962. Clairvius did not know where he had spent his lost years, although he did remember being paralyzed at the time of his presumed death, but was conscious. The man even saw how the doctor covered his face and claimed: the bokor resurrected me and made me a zombie.

Since the death of a strange applicant was recorded in the hospital, scientists considered the case as potential evidence of Haitian zombies. Indeed, according to the documents, Clervy was buried.
Although when he disappeared, the family was reported missing. The man answered all the questions about his family and childhood, known to relatives. In the end, he was recognized by family and friends.

Clairvy was the impetus for the Zombie Project, a study on the origins of zombies conducted in Haiti between 1982 and 1984. During this time, ethnobotanist and anthropologist Dr. Wade Davis traveled around Haiti in the hope of finding out the origin of the Haitian zombies.

Davis traveled to Haiti with a request from Nathan S. Kline. The doctor did not believe in and suspected some kind of drug responsible for the appearance of zombies. Because the drug can find medical application, especially in the field of anesthesiology, Kline hoped to collect samples, analyze them and determine how they work.

Davis learned from zombie-believing Haitians that bokor witchcraft had nothing to do with drugs or poisons. According to local legends, the bokor captures a part of the soul of the chosen victim, which is directly related to the person.

However, an inquisitive researcher discovered that in his rituals, the bokor used complex powders made from dried plants and animals.

Davis collected eight samples of zombie powder from four districts in Haiti. The ingredients were not identical, but seven of the eight samples shared common ingredients:

° One or more species of fish containing a deadly neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin.
° Sea toad (Bufo Marinus or toad - yeah), releasing extremely poisonous and toxic substances
° The powders contained plant and animal ingredients such as lizards and spiders. Some even included crushed glass!

The use of the spider fish intrigued Davis. Tetrodotoxin causes paralysis and death, and victims of tetrodotoxin poisoning often remain conscious until death.

Paralysis blocks the response to external stimuli - like Clairvius. There are known cases in medicine when people took tetrodotoxin and seemed to be dead, although then they fully recovered.

Perhaps, Davies suggested, the topically applied powder irritated and penetrated the victim's skin. If it was a drink, then tetrodotoxin immediately paralyzed the victim. In all applications, the poisoned person appeared dead. After waiting for the family to bury the victim, the bokor took out the already zombified body from the grave to transfer to the "owner".

Note that the zombified body required constant “feeding” with zombie powder in order to keep the victim under control. And again, in this case there is no classic zombie, when the body is absolutely dead, bitten, limbs are torn off, even the head is damaged - but continues to function in search of food. Whereas zombie people, a kind of business of a sorcerer supplying slaves to the customer.

Although Davis's theory is promising, it has some gaps, the scientists noted, finding inconsistencies in the study.

ZOMBIE POWDER?

There are several possible origins for the term zombie. These include jumbie, a West Indian term for "ghost" and nzambi, Kongo, meaning "dead man's spirit".

At first glance, Davis' research appears to be quite acceptable. Tetrodotoxin definitely causes paralysis and death. Although there are a couple of cases where people have recovered from near-fatal tetrodotoxin poisoning. For many people, the theory of a doctor of anthropology is enough, but scientists are very meticulous people who need more comprehensive evidence.

Some of the samples Davis brought to the United States gave visible results when tested on the skin of rats and rhesus monkeys. The subjects instantly fell into lethargy, became completely immobile, lost their reactions to external stimuli ... alas, the subjects did not become zombified, and did not die, they generally fully recovered.

After that, questions arose about the legitimacy of Davis's research and the actual components of the samples brought from Haiti. Scientists asked:

° whether he observed the desecration of the graves when collecting the ingredients of the powder
° whether the initial experiments with the tested powder were carried out by scientific specialists
° whether other substances have been added to the test powder
° who controlled the delivered powder for original integrity

The questions suggested that the powder samples contained almost no tetrodotoxin. It is possible that placing the powder in the test solution causes the active ingredients to break down, the Haitian Zombified Phenomenon researcher explained.

Further details became clear: Davis repeated the application of the powder using rats and achieved absolutely no effect. After examining several alleged zombies with the help of specialists, clear signs of mental illness were found.

Many people see Davis' work as the only possible explanation for the Haitian zombie phenomenon. Others dismiss it as unscientific and highly dubious, if not a hoax. For more on the controversy surrounding the Haitian zombified and Davis' research, see the October 1988 issue of Science or The Lancet.

In fact, despite the improbability of the zombified phenomenon, Davis's work is the most informative in this area, since no other research has been done. Another thing is also obvious: in remote regions of the planet, there may be secrets transmitted strictly within the family, including “recipes” for hellish brew.

As already mentioned, zombies are part of our culture, firmly settled in books, films and games, here are a few words about this, and survival in the event of a zombie apocalypse:

ZOMBIES ARE UNDEAD, BUT UNDEAD ARE NOT ZOMBIES.

According to Davis' theories, a person poisoned by Haitian zombie powder comes into motion either in the coffin or after being removed from the grave. If the procedure does not go as planned, then the bokor has a protective mechanism. However, the powder can kill the victim completely and irrevocably.

Although zombies first appeared in cinema in 1919, George A. Romeros is cited by many as setting the standard for modern zombies. In the classic film Night of the Living Dead, Romero depicted zombies as slow-moving corpses reanimated by radiation from a satellite returning from Venus.

The radiation hit the recent dead, and the resulting zombies became invulnerable until someone destroyed their brains or separated their heads from their bodies. Luckily, in Night of the Living Dead, the zombies were stupid, non-conscious bums. The use of improvised objects was limited to the use of blunt objects as clubs.

In Romero's later work, the zombies became noticeably smarter and more self-aware, though they still moved slowly and had minimal intelligence.

Many authors have used Romero's concept of zombies:

° dead corpses reanimated by radiation, chemicals, viruses, witchcraft or natural disasters
° people and animals are zombified, although cats are not subject to zombification
° very strong, but not very fast, rather inactive
° Immune to pain and able to function with any injury to the body, with the exception of decapitation or destruction of the brain
° are afraid of fire and bright light flashes

The "zombism" virus is extremely contagious, even a scratch will lead to sad consequences. People bitten by zombies often quickly turn into zombies while still being conscious.

In other cases, people die from a bite and are then reanimated with the same power as other zombies. All in all, this speedy "virulence by biting" leads to a real zombie plague in which the undead vastly outnumber living humans.

Zombies are undead, but not all undead are zombies, and a resurrected corpse is not always a zombie. Do you think it's a paradox? Not at all. For example, Frankenstein's monsters, assembled from various parts bodies are not zombies because they have intelligence and consciousness.

Mummies can bear a striking resemblance to zombies, down to guttural speech and a shocking walk. However, the mummy's deliberate physical preservation sets them apart from regular zombies. Initiated by a virus into bloodthirsty monsters, the people in 28 Days Later are not zombies because they don't die before taking on a zombie-like appearance (albeit a fast-moving one).

When they talk about the impossibility of a zombie apocalypse and give arguments about how the body works at the cellular level, it looks like cunning. Yes, a dead cell under no known conditions can recover to its documented functions. Neural connections are broken, blood coagulates in the muscle fibers, etc., etc. - that's it, the body has cooled down, the tissues have been torn.

All of the above is true, but only true for "known conditions". But what if a myth buster like the "Ti5Wj virus" appears on the scene? An unknown condition, represented by the unaccounted for possibilities of T-Double, although it will not return the cell to full functioning, will restore the cellular memory. And this is a step towards the appearance of zombies on the streets, from which you will have to escape.

HOW TO SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.

Whether you're encountering a typical zombie or a modified, smarter breed, the post-apocalyptic genre provides advice for survival in extreme situations, and a zombie attack: the main thing is to panic.

° Move away from the zombies immediately. In most cases, you are able to move faster than you can.
° Collect food, water, radio, flashlights and weapons, move to a safe place.
° If possible, open a mall, retail store, warehouse, or other place where you can easily access food and life support items.
° Stay away from densely populated areas where infestation is likely to be most severe.
° Barricade all entrances, be sure to check access to the premises from the basement levels.
° Never lock yourself in a corner or other closed space.
° Remember that anyone bitten or killed by a zombified will become a threat to you and those around you. However, it will be easier to survive in a group of familiar faces, or in a larger team - the choice is individual, and depends on your psychological portrait.

Yes, everything went badly, the zombie apocalypse has come, but while remaining vigilant, patiently wait for the rescuers. At the same time, continuing long-term preparation for survival and careful control of the territory of residence.

Abnormal infectious proteins, called prions, can block parts of the brain while leaving others intact, creating a zombie out of a person. It may well be, but it's not that easy.

In West African and Haitian Voodoo teachings, zombies are human beings without a soul, their bodies are nothing more than a shell controlled by powerful sorcerers. In the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, an army of clumsy, half-witted corpse-eaters brought to life by radiation attack a group of local Pennsylvanians. We're looking for a cross between Haiti and Hollywood: an infectious agent that will make its victims half-dead, but still living shells of who they used to be.

This effective agent will target and block specific areas of the brain, the scientists say. And although the living dead have intact motor skills - the ability to walk, of course, but also the ability to vomit, necessary in order to devour human flesh, their frontal lobe, which is responsible for moral conduct, planning and restraining impulsive actions (such as the desire to bite someone) will cease to exist. The cerebellum, which controls motor coordination, is likely to be functional, but not fully functional. This explains the fact that the zombies in the movies are easily outrun or knocked over with a baseball bat.

Most likely, protein is the culprit of such a partially destroyed brain. More specifically, a protein-like infectious particle called a prion. It's not really a virus or a living particle, but it's almost impossible to destroy and there's no known way to treat the disease these prions cause.

The first prion epidemic was discovered around 1950 in Papua. New Guinea when representatives of one of the local tribes were struck by a strange tremor. At times, the sick people of this tribe burst into uncontrollable laughter. The tribe called the disease kuru, and by the early 1960s, scientists had discovered that the source of the disease stemmed from the tribe's cannibal funeral customs, including brain-eating.

Prions became widely known in the 1990s as the infectious agents responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease. When a deformed prion enters our body like a mad cow, holes form in our brains, like holes in a sponge. Brain scans of prion-infected people looked like they had been shot in the head with a shotgun.

Scary Assumptions

If we think that the evil geniuses are planning to destroy our world, then all they will have to do is attach the prion to the virus, since prion diseases spread very easily among the population. To actually make things even more catastrophic, we need a virus that spreads very quickly and that will carry prions to the frontal lobe of the brain and cerebellum. It will be difficult to direct the infection to these parts of the body, but it is very important in order to create the shambling, dumb creatures that we need.

Scientists propose to use a virus that causes encephalitis, an inflammation of the cerebral cortex. A herpes virus will do, but it's unlikely to be able to attach a prion to a virus. Once infected, we will have to stop the spread of the prion in the body so that our zombies do not become completely immobile and their brains completely useless. The scientists suggest adding sodium bicarbonate to stimulate metabolic alkalosis, which raises the body's pH and makes it harder for prions to multiply. In this case, the person will have seizures, convulsive muscle contractions, and he will look as terrible as a zombie.

If the child is in the cemetery late at night, he will feel very strong fear. He will be afraid even if you leave him a gun so that he can protect himself. Why do you think? Maybe because on some instinctive level, all people understand that the Zombie Apocalypse is just a matter of time.

Our culture is full of stories about zombies, ranging from various religions to modern comics. Let us recall, for example, what is said in the ancient literary work- "The Epic of Gilgamesh" - about the possibility of a zombie invasion:

“I will pave the way to the depths of the underworld,
I will raise the dead to eat the living,
There will be fewer then the living than the dead!”, the goddess Ishtar promises.

But you will say that these are all myths and fairy tales. After all, this can't really be?

In fact, this is quite possible. Here are five scientific reasons why the Zombie Apocalypse could actually happen.

But these are just mice, you say. How could this lead to the Zombie Apocalypse? By the way, yes, we forgot to mention that from 30 to 50% of people in different countries infected with toxoplasma. Maybe even you are one of them. Flip a coin!

As shown recent research, those infected show personality changes and are more likely to develop certain mental disorders.

So, imagine that suddenly half of the population completely loses the instinct of self-preservation and rational thinking ... Well, we mean that they lose much more than they do now.

What do you think, maybe these specialists do their work under the influence of Toxoplasma? If you do not want to sleep peacefully at night anymore, then we will inform you that this is how it really is.

No. 4. neurotoxins

This scenario is described in the film The Serpent and the Rainbow and in Resident Evil 5.

There are poisons that can slow down physiological functions so human body that the person will appear dead. And no one, not even a doctor, will be able to determine that he is actually alive (well, except perhaps a very good doctor). By the way, the poison of the Japanese puffer fish belongs to this category.

The victim can then be brought back to life with the help of some alkaloids (eg Datura preparation). The victim will remain in a trance-like state, but will be able to perform simple tasks: eat, sleep, moan, and stagger around with outstretched arms.

And how can this lead to the appearance of zombies?

Lead? Already led!

The concept of "zombie" came to us from Haiti. There is a story about the poor guy Clairvus Narcissus. He was considered dead, and as many as two doctors, and buried in 1962. And 18 years later he was found aimlessly wandering around the village. As it turned out, such things can be done by local voodoo priests using various substances extracted from raw materials. natural origin. And then they exploit such zombie people on sugar cane plantations. Do not believe?! This the purest water Truth! :)

So if you drink your tea or coffee with cane sugar who knows, maybe zombies got it?

So, on the one hand, it has already happened. But, on the other hand, even if someone could spread the neurotoxin through the population to turn it into a brainless and shuffling mob, there is no way to make that mob aggressive cannibals. So far there is no way...

No. 3. Rage virus

Watch in the movie 28 Days Later.

In the movie, this virus turns people into mindless killing machines, and in real life there are many diseases of the brain that lead to the same result. But these diseases are not contagious. But then came mad cow disease, also known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, when a person is infected, not a cow. The disease affects the brain and spinal cord of the cow and turns it into a stumbling, brainless and aggressive animal. This disease is caused by the so-called "prion infection". The disease is contagious, although prions are not microbes or even viruses. They belong to a special kind of proteins that can interact with normal proteins and cause a change in their structure to a pathological one.

A person after infection has the following symptoms:

Changes in gait;

hallucinations;

coordination problems (such as trips and falls);

muscle twitches;

convulsions;

Rapidly developing disorders of consciousness and / or dementia.

It's actually quite a rare disease (although it may actually not be as rare as we're told). And no cases are described that the infected pursued other people in a bloodthirsty crowd. So far there have been no such...

What should be the conclusion from this? That brain infections are a widespread phenomenon, and the appearance of such a disease, but also accompanied by rage, is only a matter of time.

Don't forget that only one substance in the brain (serotonin) keeps us from turning into a killing machine. It is enough for a hypothetical virus to learn how to block the production of this substance or turn off the brain's ability to perceive it. So imagine a disease that can spread either through food, or through blood and saliva (with a bite, for example). Such is the super madness.
With just one bite, you are guaranteed to turn into the worst kind of zombie imaginable.

No. 2. neurogenesis

You must be aware of research related to stem cells. In short, stem cells can be used to regenerate dead cells. We are now interested in such an application of this technology as "neurogenesis". Neurogenesis is a technique by which dead brain tissue can be grown.

So where is this all going? Did you guess?

Science, theoretically, can save you from almost anything, but not from brain death. You can transplant organs and tissues, but when the brain dies, you are dead. But scientists have almost learned how to re-grow brain tissue in patients in a coma and with serious brain injuries. And very soon this technology will be finally debugged. True, these resuscitation processes have one nuance. The fact is that the brain dies in the direction from its outer layers - to the inner ones. And outside is the cerebral cortex - what makes you a person. In the depths is that part of the brain that controls the motor and basic primitive functions.

If we take a brain-dead patient and restore only the functions of the brain stem, then we get a mindless body, dragging its feet, without thoughts and personality. Just instincts. And this can be called a zombie.

In any legal system in the world, all rights and obligations end with death. And all it takes is someone with sufficient resources and the need for a brainless and completely submissive workforce. So the implementation of this option is not far off.

And finally...

No. 1. Nanobots

Featured in Michael Crichton's fantasy novel "Prey" and in the PS2 game Nano Breaker.

What are nanobots or nanorobots? We believe that you are in general terms understand what technology is involved. It's worth adding, however, that nanorobots were apparently only designed to make you fearful of the future...

Nanobots are microscopic, self-replicating robots that can either build or destroy something imperceptibly. Every year more and more financial resources are invested in these technologies. It is clear that these technologies will destroy humanity sooner or later, but people cannot resist the temptation to see for themselves exactly how this will happen.

But how, after all, these technologies can lead to the Zombie Apocalypse?
A so-called nano-cyborg has already been created - a synthetic miniature electronic circuit associated with a microorganism. Such a nanocyborg can work up to one month after the death of the owner. Notice how scientists directly approached the appearance of "zombies" and even at such an early stage.

So, one day nanorobots will appear in the brains of people, they will be programmed to form new neural connections to replace the damaged ones and to maintain the activity of the bodies at some minimum level even after the death of the human host. Perhaps they will be able to keep the bodies functioning until they begin to decompose on the go ...

Nanobots will be programmed to reproduce themselves, but after the destruction of the hosts' bodies, the nanobots must also die. Acting in accordance with a given program, they will have to be transported to a new host, for example, through a bite.

Once in the body of a new host and getting to the brain, they can turn off the cortex and leave the trunk functioning. Thus, the army of the undead will be replenished with one more member.

We believe that this particular scenario is most likely to materialize. This is our point of view, but we will be very interested to find out what you think about all this. Write comments.

As we mentioned at the very beginning of the article, our culture is very rich in zombie-themed fairy tales and myths, and we cannot but mention the iZombie television series, which stands apart. There, zombies are presented not as howling, stupid, aggressive and always hungry creatures, but in the form of a pretty and not at all stupid blonde Olivia "Liv" Moore. The creators of the series are trying to convey some kind of hidden meaning? You can find out more about the series here