Zombie ScienceThis is a featured page


Got a theory about how the living dead do it? Contribute to any of the sub-pages!

Remember - this isn't an exact science. Your gut instincts are as good as any book out there!
What We Know
We've got the basics covered - zombies are "undead" and they are quite "bite-y." Beyond that, we have nothing but speculation. That makes your guess as good as ours.

What Do We Need More Information On?
Just about everything! Illuminate us with your insights on any of these topics:



Not Convinced that Zombie Science is Important?
Read this from
betterdeadthanundead. He uses the zombie diet example to illustrate the value of knowing your enemy.

What Do Zombies Eat?
The zombie that's closing in on you... he looks hungry. But what sort of palate does he have? Is he a basic carnivore - ready and willing to eat anything, as long as it's flesh? Or does he veer towards the gourmet... the delicacy - does he long for brains and brains alone? One might say, "What difference does it make? He wants to eat me! Neither choice is really all that comforting." But is this the case?
If the zombie will eat any manner of flesh - meat, bones, brains, organs, etc. - then what draws him to it? Is it the smell given off by humans? Is it a pheromone? Is his desire to feast on a living human a means to satisfy his hunger, or does he know instinctively that by biting a human, he continues his species? In either case, he seems to be driven by instinct, not intellect. But what if his sole desire is to eat living human brains? We are again faced with the question, how does he know what he wants and how does he find it? It seems unlikely that the zombie can smell the brains inside our heads, but that does not make it impossible. Assuming that most zombies did not eat human brains while they were alive, how would they know that they wanted to eat them as a zombie, and how would they know how to track down living human brains once they became zombies?
Why does the zombie hunger so? Since undeath presumably stops all normal biological processes pertaining to maintaining the body as a living organism, one would assume that eating as a means or survival would be eliminated. Does the zombie's rotting brain constantly send it hunger pains, making it constantly search for a means to satiate its need for fulfillment? This seems unlikely, given the zombie's disregard for other forms of nourishment. He could sit down with a box of Oreos and skip all that chasing and fighting for a mouthful of little Billy or little Sally. So he is clearly drawn to human flesh; presumably only living human flesh as we don't see zombie's attacking each other. (If we can someday isolate what draws them to the living, we might be able to block their reception of this signal. We might be able to turn it into a chemical agent that we can crop dust an infested area, thus making the zombies turn on each other...)

Whether the zombie on your heels wants only your brains, or will settle for your flesh, we must determine why he wants it, and we must determine how he knows where you are. The science that takes place in the early days of the plague will be invaluable to the survival of the human race. The questions raised here and elsewhere must be answered if we are to win the war."


See also:



Marsden
Marsden
Latest page update: made by Marsden , Feb 17 2011, 9:55 AM EST (about this update About This Update Marsden Edited by Marsden

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DoctorPierce Zombie Senses 1 Mar 11 2013, 10:30 PM EDT by MrNobody1
Thread started: Dec 7 2008, 5:54 PM EST  Watch
Well, might as well cover this while I'm thinking about it...... I'll cover the five senses of a zombie. Warning: Science in Progress

1) Sight
Well, this one is simple enough, but complicated at the same exact time..... Alright, as you probably have guessed, zombies have some sort of sense of sight. The virus' main thing in order to keep the zombie functioning is to keep it's nervous system going. The eyes are part of the nervous system and are maintained as well in the body, so yes, zombies have a sense of sight. Yet, I do not think it's sight is as good as you think. They don't have any kind of super human sight abilities. In fact, it's pretty bad. Macular degeneration is a condition within the eyes, when the arteries within the eyes harden, making them lose the nutrients they need in a human body. Within a zombie, due to the coagulation of blood and decay, the virus cannot transport the materials as efficiently, just like within the body to the muscles, causing the vision to be distorted. Now, this also brings us to another issue.... "Well, if they can't see that well, how can they distinguish their prey?!?" - Whiny Skeptic
Well, W.S., I was getting to that part. I think that the identification process within the zombie mind is two step. It utilizes it's sight to distinguish it's prey by social behavior. This is sort of like a bull's responsive to movement. It's sort of like that, but also uses it's sense of smell to distinguish living from dead. If any of you know how bad three day old roadkill smells, then you know a human smells alot worse. So, don't think you can fool a zombie by covering yourself in decomposing flesh and shamble about. For all I know, there might be some sort of way a zombie recognizes their prey. There might be some sort of sixth sense to the zombie. This is all theoretical. I'll go onto the other senses later.
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DillonD A short zombie film 3 Jan 23 2013, 9:51 PM EST by bebebebebe
Thread started: Aug 17 2009, 7:21 PM EDT  Watch
I own a film production company called Explosive Productions. I'm a newbie to the film area. A few friends and I are planning on making a 15-20 minute zombie film. Basically a shortened version of a survival film. A guy out battling zombies, that kind of stuff.

If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated!
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Dirge Zombies don't attack each other... why? (page: 1 2 3 4 5) 88 Nov 29 2012, 8:00 AM EST by EwanCDickson
Thread started: May 2 2008, 4:14 PM EDT  Watch
This is probably a dead end thing but since I haven't found a discussion about it I might as well say it. Why do zombies feast on the flesh of the living yet when there's no food to be found, not turn on each other?
Is there some sort of chemical or phermone these new zombies excreat?-Mmm zombie smell nice
Does the virus direct the zombie more manually, steering the host toward more potential targets rather than the infected?-don't go that way stupid!
Are they just picky eaters, and just prefer the flesh of the living?-Hotsauce anyone?
Or are they a more alien version of the virus, like the borg or zerg, haveing a collective "hivemind"?-We are the Zomg...^^
Do they hold onto some loyal part of their minds that makes cannibalism of infected as bad as humans eating humans?-I'll only bite once Jimmy, now close your eyes.
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