It is pretty obvious that there has been a hype over zombies in the past few years. With shows like The Walking Dead, Zombie Apocalypse, and movies like World War Z it is no wonder people are obsessed. There have been predictions of a zombie apocalypse occurring that has led some people to go as far as zombie proofing their cars and horses. Now I am not talking about green monsters going around eating flesh or someone on bath salts that gets a little too crazy, but a “realistic” zombie apocalypse. Is a zombie apocalypse scientifically possible? Do we the people have to worry about this scenario?

First, lets make one thing clear, “zombies in the sense of dead people coming back to life are not possible” (Adams, 2013). So, we can rule out that theory. The people don’t have to worry about the dead popping out of the ground craving flesh, but there are a other probable scientific theories. One possible cause would be in the hands of brain parasites. Brain parasites have the power to change how one behaves depending on which part of the brain they take an effect on. An example of one brain parasite is toxoplasmosa which is present in a majority of Earth’s population, most of whom are not even aware. This specific toxin after various studies, have proven that it can cause a change in the personality of those who may be infected which makes them vulnerable to basically loosing their mind. Now how exactly can this result in a zombie apocalypse? If the toxin does evolve, it ca cause those infected to go crazy and throw out any rational thought. Although not physically dead, the victims can be considered brain dead, reeking havoc on the people.

Other probable theories include: neurotoxins, rage virus, neurogenesis, and nanobots. Neurotoxins are certain poisons that can lead one to be in a trance-like state, not able to perform everyday task. This disease may not lead to cannibalism, but it can lead to dead people living amongst us, not in touch with the rest of the world. The rage virus symptoms include lack of coordination, hallucinations, and even dementia. Neurogenesis involves the re-growth of brain tissue that is already dead. Nanobots project the most fear. they are “self-replicating robots that can invisibly build-or destroy-anything” (Wong, 2007).

One can question if these are probable possibilities due to the fact that theses diseases are present on Earth and no zombie apocalypse has occurred yet. The research is not necessarily saying that any of these will cause a zombie apocalypse, the toxins would have to evolve a great amount to take any real affect. Just because the factors in each theory have not evolved to their full potential does not mean we should rule them out. After all, you never know.

Photo courtesy of www.cracked.com

Works Cited

Adams, Diana (2013) It Turns Out… A Real Zombie Apocalypse Is Possible After All. Retrieved from www.bitrebels.com

Wong, David (2007) 5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen. Retrieved from www.cracked.com