On the horizon, there is a looming threat that might very well destroy the human race. In the peer reviewed student journal from the University of Leicester's Journal of Physics Special Topics, an article published predicts that a zombie outbreak would annihilate humanity from existence in a mere 100 days or less.
SIR model
A mathematical model called the SIR model, which is used by epidemiologist to predict how diseases will spread, was used in this case to predict the extent of devastation from a zombie outbreak. The study presumes an individual zombie would have a 90 percent chance of infecting at least one human each day.
At this rate, the human population would drop to 181 from 7.5 billion by day 100 with an estimated 190 million zombies running around. The study also took into consideration the fact that some regions are more isolated from the rest of the world than others, but even in that case, the study predicts the human population would number 273 by day 100.
2nd Amendment rights
In light of the fact that some humans' unfettered right to hoard guns in some countries (not naming names) could mitigate some of the damage from a zombie epidemic, a follow-up paper was conducted by the same journal. Assuming each human has a 10 percent chance of killing at least one zombie, and also factoring in human reproduction, the SIR model estimated the human population would still drop to a few hundred people but zombies would die off after 1,000 days or so.
So what does all this scientific analysis about hypothetical zombie outbreaks actually accomplish? First off, the study validates a theory floating around on many internet discussion boards that “The Walking Dead” should have called it quits after season three because there seriously is no real chance of survival. These papers also should finally legitimize the burgeoning field of zombology in science, and hopefully provide a respite on college campuses for any students, or anyone else that happens to be interested in the topic.
