Zombies: Science Vs. Fiction

 

Zombies: Science Vs. Fiction

    For the past few decades, we have seen Hollywood portray zombies to be these undead flesh-eating creatures lacking free will and attacking anything to eat, kill and infect. There are many theories about how zombies came to be but in earlier works we learn that zombies were corpses said to be revived by witchcraft, especially in certain African and Caribbean religions, find out more about the history in this journal article by Isak Niehaus; Witches and Zombies of the South African Lowveld: Discourse, Accusations and Subjective Reality. In this blog we will find out whether Zombies exist in real life or not and what the science is behind the living dead.

Source: Gif Abyss

    In the movie World War Z, we see a former U.N investigator Gerry Lane embark on a daunting journey to keep his family protected and find the source of the infection and a cure or way to stop it’s spread. In the movie, we are unable to learn of the exact origin of the virus. Many characters offer different opinions on the origin. However, we do learn that the first reported case that U.S.A learnt about was in South Korea from Camp Humphreys. On the other hand, Israel intercepted reports from India which could have been the source of the plague. We see groups of zombies chase and attack a target to infect them which shows that the zombies have a pack mentality. In the scene where the zombies climb atop each other to form a pillar allowing them to cross the high wall of the Israel camp is a characteristic found in ants. The only goal of the zombies is to infect and multiply, they are attracted to loud or man-made noises. We see these zombies only go after those who are healthy, humans with a severe illness or injury are ignored by the zombies which leads to the vaccine that helps camouflage humans.

     Now it is time to dive into the science behind zombies, is it possible for living creatures to comeback from the dead? Is there a virus that can takeover the brain and bend it to it’s will? Will there be a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by the walking dead? If you want to find out the answers to these questions, then keep reading.


Source: Site
     After watching scary movies most of us reassure ourselves that these undead creatures do not actually exist, right? Well, you could not be more wrong! There are in fact several cases of real-life zombies. Firstly, let’s talk about parasites that try and hijack their hosts’ brains. For example: hair worms, these unholy creatures sneak into insects like grasshoppers through the water these insects’ drink. These hair worms set up base camp inside the insects and live there till they are fully grown, now to mate and reproduce these hair worms need to get back into the water. So, in order to achieve its goal, the hair worm secretes proteins that interfere with the grasshoppers brain chemistry overriding its entire existence and then commands the grasshopper to jump into the nearest water body, where the worm can crawl out of the grasshopper and mates. Attached below is an image of a grasshopper vs. a zombiehopper.
Zombiehopper

Grasshopper
    
    Lancet liver fluke is another parasite that takes over its host’s brain, to complete its lifecycle the fluke must move between a grazing animal, a snail, and an ant. Adult liver flukes live in the livers of cows and other such grazing animals. The liver fluke eggs are excreted in the cow’s poop which are then eaten by a snail. Gradually the larvae develop inside the snail for months and then make their way to the snail’s respiratory system where they are smeared in slime and excreted by the snail. They are then devoured by hungry ants; the flukes then break out and charge towards the ant’s cerebral ganglia (ant’s brain) from where they take command of the ant.

Zombified Ant

    These were a few real-life examples of zombies and how parasites force their way into their hosts’ brains and take command. Now let’s talk about human zombies, fortunately as of now, no known virus or parasite can turn humans into undead creatures aimlessly roaming around on the face of the earth to infect others. In short, a virus cannot turn humans into a virus. However, there are many diseases such as rabies or leprosy that may cause humans to have symptoms that match the characteristics of zombies or may give us a zombie like outlook. Read up on such diseases and their symptoms at: Diseases by LewisGale Physicians.

    In the end I would like to leave you with the fact that a zombie apocalypse may be closer now than ever before, thanks to gene editing and biological advancements that can help build a parasite that can hijack the human brain. As spooky as it may sound but that is one of the realities we must face. To find out more about why scientists believe a zombie apocalypse can happen, watch this YouTube video by The Infographics Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7voToyTmOE.

By: GM Afzal

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lorax - Plastic plants and bottled air

Image
Lorax, the movie which revolved around a city  called  Thneed-Ville ,  which was made up of plastic entirely.  The roads, trees, plants,  and even the grass was made up of plastic.  The people living inside that town were oblivious to the fact that all the vegetation and greenery they had was no t natural but  rather artificial .   The main character of the movie was a little boy named Ted. He was in search of a “Real Tree ,”   not an arti ficial one , that he wanted to give to a girl that he really liked. Finding a real/natural tree in t he city of Thneed-Ville, was almost impossible. The city had been robbed  off of  its natural vegetation, and it was completely re lying upon technology and primarily batteries. Due to this lack of natural vegetation, and large reliance on  fossil fuels, Thneed-Ville had  bad quality  air, which  wasn’t  at all fresh. This is where the primary antagonist of  the movie comes in, Aloysius O'Hare.  O’Hare was the major of the city and he also had a c
Read more

Genetically Modified Animals: Jurassic World and Real World

Image
By: Insha Mushtaq Creating genetically modified animals have been a scientist’s goal since genetic engineering had shown some progress in the realm of treating or modifying tissue with the help of gene cloning, gene therapy, or gene editing. Moreover, with the rapid advancement and adaptation of science, genetic engineering has prospered a great amount and has been constantly showing some promising outcomes in genetically improving species for the better. However, humans get crazy when they think about genetically modified animals, especially in movies where their practical implications and limitations can be dodged. Sci-fi movies like Jurassic World, which is built around the notion of genetically modified animals, the directors tend to lean more towards the fiction side and sadly undermine the practical aspect of it. And perhaps that is the reason why sometimes the most basic science is ignored when making a science fiction movie. Simpler visual of how scientists take out genomes fro
Read more

Hollywood Sci-Fi vs. Reality- Could “I am Legend” Actually Happen?

Image
By Eraj Rizwan Hollywood Sci-Fi vs. Reality: Could “ I am Legend ” Actually Happen? Disclaimer- This blog contains spoilers (obviously) Imagine a world without crowds, no queues, no traffic, no hustle and bustle- basically no other humans except you and your dog (and occasional a herd of deer, and lions). It is not as great as it sounds, ask Dr. Robert Neville about that ! A lightning-paced ride through a post-apocalyptic world where all the human beings except Robert Neville (Will Smith), an ex-military virologist, have been killed by a virus called Krippin virus or transformed into angry cannibalistic species called Darkseekers, who emerge at night, hunt anything that moves, and cannot be relied upon for civilized conversation. Between a highly regimented schedule hunting deer with his dog, Sam, and driving to the rental store and chatting with mannequins, Neville tries to find a way to reverse the virus using his own immune blood. He has not had much luck in three long, lonely
Read more