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San Francisco, 7:11 AM
Tue Nov 10
28 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #mathematics more →

    Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?

    A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

    Physicists Prove That Vampires Could Not Exist

    The Victorian-Era Supercomputer And The Genius Who Created It

    Pi Meets Cube In Fermat's Room
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Erich Benjamin Spurgin Erich Benjamin Spurgin
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    Why shouldn't we study zombie attacks?
     Reply
    Ghede promoted this comment Erich Benjamin Spurgin was starred Erich Benjamin Spurgin was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Space Hippy! Anekanta - Space Hippy!
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    I've said it before and I'll say it again: study people like the Australian Aborigines or the Khoisan for better cooperative dynamics. They may be stone-age in a technological sense, but socially they are light years ahead: they know how to get along much better than we "civilized" folk.
     Reply
    Anekanta - Space Hippy! was starred Anekanta - Space Hippy! was unstarred
    Image of Jonny_eh Jonny_eh
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    The professor behind the study wrote a similar defense for our local paper, [www.ottawacitizen.com]

    I also interviewed the author for our podcast, [www.ottawaskeptics.org]

    I recommend the podcast, not just because it's mine, but because we touch on the same issue discussed here and he talks about his main area of interest, eradicating AIDS!
     Reply
    RandomFrequentFlierDent promoted this comment Edited by Jonny_eh at 09/15/09 10:48 AM Jonny_eh was starred Jonny_eh was unstarred
    Image of engtech engtech
    09/15/09

    @Jonny_eh: I'd promote this if I could.
     Reply
    Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L. promoted this comment engtech was starred engtech was unstarred
    Image of Alessar Alessar
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    Funny, I was just having this chain of thoughts the other day in that "Zombie Apocalypse" would be a great mental exercise to plan for because it represents that unbelieveable catastrophe no one has ever dared think of. Unfortunately, we've had a couple of those in the last several years.
     Reply
    Alessar was starred Alessar was unstarred
    Image of Chip Overclock Chip Overclock
    09/15/09

    @Alessar: Among my more survivalist friends, that's exactly how they use it: as a codeword to mean "whatever we can't anticipate". "Katrina" is another metaphor (or is that an allegory) I hear used a lot. The fact that the rule of law pretty much broke down temporarily and various local, state and federal governments seemed pretty clueless was apparently a big wake up call for a lot of people.
     Reply
    Chip Overclock was starred Chip Overclock was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    All I can say is I will voluntarily stay away from any "zombie walk" because, y'know, you can't be too sure and I'd hate to bash in someone's head by accident.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard)
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    I think getting ready for a zombie attack is good. It gives our goverments something else to spend our money on in a completly useless way. I say if we are going to get ourselves reay....why not combine the 2 big cash cows right now. Attach a shotgun to a speed camera. Now we all know that zombies run....yes? So when said zombie comes legging it past a camera..BOOM! One dead zombie. Maybe a zombie tax on all large citys. They can come in to eat our brains...but damn it! They'll pay a charge or get fined!!!!!
     Reply
    CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was starred CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was unstarred
    Image of engtech engtech
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    Here's a link to the original zombie study: [www.mathstat.uottawa.ca]

    submitted it to io9 a few months ago, but I don't think it got picked up.
     Reply
    Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L. promoted this comment engtech was starred engtech was unstarred
    Image of Belabras ate my dingo! Belabras ate my dingo!
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    Might be a good idea to bone up on strategy too:
    [www.cracked.com]
     Reply
    Belabras ate my dingo! was starred Belabras ate my dingo! was unstarred
    Image of Aidan_ Aidan_
    09/15/09

    In reply to Why Should We Study Zombie Attacks?
    I'll give him AIDS and climate change, but terrorism? This is not a new concept. The term terrorism has been in use since at least the early 20th century.
     Reply
    Aidan_ was starred Aidan_ was unstarred
    Image of cletar cletar
    09/15/09

    @Aidan_: The term "terrorism" dates to at least the 1780s.

    I think the point here is dealing with sudden outbreaks or increases in known phenomena. The concept of disease isn't new, but each unique epidemic is. Terrorism as a concept isn't new, but each terrorist event is new and unexpected. Modeling of catastrophe is actually a useful thing.
     Reply
    cletar was starred cletar was unstarred
    Image of Boas_MC Boas_MC
    09/15/09

    @Aidan_: He probably means shifting forms of terrorism. Like planes flying into buildings, or secret armies of bulldozers undermining whole downtowns. In addition, of course, to Molotov cocktail-tossing zombie Baha'i fundamentalists.
     Reply
    Boas_MC was starred Boas_MC was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Space Hippy! Anekanta - Space Hippy!
    08/14/09

    In reply to A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
    You spent your grant money researching what?!

    Still, I guess this could be used to model real-world epidemics
     Reply
    Anekanta - Space Hippy! was starred Anekanta - Space Hippy! was unstarred
    Image of omgwtflolbbqbye omgwtflolbbqbye
    08/14/09

    In reply to A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
    I like Redecker's plan better.
     Reply
    omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred
    Image of Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny. Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
    08/14/09

    @omgwtflolbbqbye: Yes, Yes and Yes.
     Reply
    Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny. was starred Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny. was unstarred
    Image of NerD: Blattella NerD: Blattella
    08/14/09

    @omgwtflolbbqbye: That Redecker. So far ahead of his time.
     Reply
    NerD: Blattella was starred NerD: Blattella was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    08/14/09

    In reply to A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
    correction: REkill without mercy. they've already died once after all.
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    08/14/09

    @tetracycloide: I prefer the term "disanimate".
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    08/14/09

    @Grey_Area: "unvive" perhaps?
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of SeeingI SeeingI
    08/14/09

    In reply to A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
    Much as I love his movies, I have always wondered about the realism of Romero's apocalyptic scenarios, just because I wondered, are there really THAT many unembalmed dead bodies on planet Earth at any one time?
     Reply
    GreyHammer promoted this comment SeeingI was starred SeeingI was unstarred
    Image of GreyHammer GreyHammer
    08/14/09

    @SeeingI: you have hospitals full of bodies in the morgue and teh multiplication of the infection spreads like wild fire. in romero's version even the embalmed will rise as long as the brain is intact.
     Reply
    GreyHammer was starred GreyHammer was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    08/14/09

    In reply to A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
    Is there anything that applied mathematics and statistics CAN"T solve?

    Of course, I could have summed up their conclusion in two lines: Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of AngryEddy AngryEddy
    08/14/09

    @EBone: Math is the universal language, even when dealing with zombies.
     Reply
    AngryEddy was starred AngryEddy was unstarred
    Image of WindowlickinDaywalker WindowlickinDaywalker
    08/14/09

    In reply to A Mathematical Model for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
    Thanks for this important piece of information, Lauren.

    I would have been tempted to go with the title: "Mathmeticians Prove That Violence is Always--And Quite Possibly the Best--Option*"

    *in the case of zombie infestation
     Reply
    WindowlickinDaywalker was starred WindowlickinDaywalker was unstarred
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