Every now and then you come upon a “scientific study” that is as shocking as it is insightful. That’s the case with a new “study” that suggests that, once a zombie apocalypse begins, human beings have just 100 days left. Well, to be accurate, after 100 days there would be 273 humans left. It’s all based on mathematics which, in this case, would work against us.
The “study” was published in the University of Leicester’s Journal of Physics Special Topics. It made creative use of the “SIR model”, a model usually employed try epidemiologists to simulate the spread of diseases. Assuming a 90% chance of each zombie infecting a single human per day, the zombie apocalypse would be twice as contagious as the Black Plague that decimated the population of Europe in the 1300s.
Here’s how the math breaks down assuming a human population of 7.5 billion people.
Day 1: 1 Zombie
Day 2: 2 Zombies
Day 3: 4 Zombies
Day 4: 8 Zombies
Day 5: 16 Zombies
Day 6: 32 Zombies
Day 7: 64 Zombies
Day 8: 128 Zombies
Day 9: 256 Zombies
Day 10: 512 Zombies
Day 11: 1024 Zombies
Day 12: 2048 Zombies
Day 13: 4096 Zombies
Day 14: 8192 Zombies
Day 15: 16,384 Zombies
Day 16: 32,768 Zombies
Day 17: 65,536 Zombies
Day 18: 131,072 Zombies
Day 19: 262, 144 Zombies
Day 20: 524,288 Zombies
At this point the infection can be viewed as a pandemic. And from there it only gets worse…
Now, of course, this doesn’ take into account the fact that there might be some humans who are skilled zombie hunters. And it does assume that the zombies can each find a fresh brain each and every day. But even factoring those variables in I think it is safe to say… once the zombie apocalypse gets started its pretty much over.
Happy Friday!!!