The world is obsessed with zombies and many have taken actions to survive what they perceive as an inevitable apocalypse. Many more people who believe it could happen, also believe that it will not be in their lifetime. The following are true stories of how zombies may have already been living among us, and how it is feasible that an outbreak could occur. In our lifetime? That is anyone’s guess, as we all know, life is stranger than fiction.

Theory Number One Comes From Haiti: The word zombie started out in Haiti where humans have died and been brought back to life. There are drugs like alkaloids that can and will, reanimate a human. After a poisoning, like from a neurotoxin which is found in blow fish for one, the reaction is that it slows the bodily functions to the point that the person appears dead. These alkaloids will revive that person and bring them back to life in a trance-like state. They will have no memory, and will only be able to perform simple tasks, thus taking on the form of the walking dead. One such true life story that happened in Haiti, was about a guy named Clairvius Narcisse who was declared dead by not just one doctor but two. He was buried in 1962, and 18 years later they found him wandering around the village! It seems the local priests of voodoo had used a chemical found in nature, and brought people back to life to work on sugar plantations. That sugar packet one may use in their coffee each morning could have been handled by real life zombies!

Theory Number Two Comes From Rats: Parasites of the brain is a terrifying phrase, but they are very real. There is a particular parasite called toxoplasmosa gondii that lives in rats. The infected rats can only breed the parasite within the intestines of cats. This all-consuming and terrifying toxin gets the rat to put itself in the position to get eaten without the rat even knowing it is putting itself in danger. So how does this translate to a zombie apocalypse? Well, scientists say that a good percentage of humans have this toxin already in us, and if an even more evolved strain of this toxin appears mankind could end up like the rats. It is not so far-fetched as rats are pretty close to humans and that is why they use these rodents in medical testing.

Theory Number Three Comes from The Rage Virus: There have always been a number of brain disorders that can turn a person violent, however they have also never been contagious, until humans encountered mad cow disease. When a person eats the infected meat, there are a number of symptoms that sound suspiciously like being a zombie. Some of the symtoms are, muscle twitching, delirium, changes in how the affected person walks. If mad cow disease got out of control and it turned our delirium into rage, and it could be transmitted by blood, well then, humans are just a bite away from a zombie apocalypse.

Theory Number Four Comes From Stem Cell Research: Neurogenesis is the regrowth of brain cell tissue, that was previously dead. This is done in a lab and regeneration does not happen in a real human, right? Currently this is correct but doctors have been able to use comatose patients with head trauma and have re-grown brain cells to the point where the person will wake up and walk. Taking this news and coupling it with the reality of suspended animation and it is possible to reanimate the world into a zombie apocalypse. Scientists working on reanimation, state there is a problem with the brain dying from the outside upon reviving it. This is essentially the nice parts of the human psyche and what is left is a primitive brain with just basic motor control and a survival instinct. It just might be time to sign up for a zombie survival reality show.

Theory Number Five Comes From Nanobots: These are tiny self multiplying robots that can destroy anything. Scientists have created what is call nano-cyborg, which is essentially a chip fused to a virus. These little chips can function almost a month after the host is dead, and there are studies that state that nanobots are will be a reality and that they will be able to crawl into a brain and replace damaged connections. Well, how could this possibly go wrong, and who would sign up for this?

Will it happen, when will it happen, and how will mankind survive? Some of the questions on the lips of many including the CDC which has advocated a zombie apocalypse survival kit. OK, it will also be useful for pandemics and other world shattering catastrophe’s, and includes the use of camouflaging oneself with chemicals to trick the undead into thinking a survivor was one of them. Two such stinky chemicals are cadavarine and putrescine, and their names alone make one think of the walking dead. So if it comes down to real life zombies and an apocalypse, at least we have a little bit of science on our side to fight for humanity.

By Kristi Cereska

Sources:

Cracked.com

Movie Fone

Mother Jones

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