Zombies Live!

Zombies seem to be everywhere you look right now. They appear in books, movies, and even songs.  Everywhere!  There have been books written on zombie brains, zombie gardening, zombie knitting, and other topics.

The idea that zombies exist has been around since the 8th century in the Congo and can be found in several different cultures. As far as humans go, there are a few movies and shows which have people turning into zombies due a disease but in reality zombies do not exist but there are zombies in nature.

 Certain species of ants can turn into zombies!  Imagine that! There exists a fungus whose parasitic nature allows it to manipulate the brains of these species of ants.  The fungus only releases its mind controlling chemicals to the proper host.

The fungus uses the to complete its life cycle. The ants encounter the fungal spores while foraging  for food.  The spores transfer into the ant where they invade the body.   When the infection reaches the brain, chemicals are released and take over the ant's central nervous system forcing the ant to clamp down on a leaf or twig.  At this point the fungus kills the ant and forces a stalk to grow out of the ant's head. When its ready, the stalk releases more spores to infect more ants.

The fungus itself is only attracted to one or two varieties of carpenter ants found in South America.  Research indicates that if an infected ant stays in the nest, the fungus in unable to develop either due to conditions not being right or because they are thrown out by healthy ants.  It appears the fungus also drives the infected ants out so they can get to a place where the fungus is able to reproduce.

 It is possible the idea for a plague spreading through the land and turning people into zombies might have come from these creatures or its possible its extrapolated from the fact that people infected with rabies often appear totally insane due to its effects on the central nervous system.

If this virus mutated so the incubation period was shortened to a day or two and it became airborne rather than transmitted through bites, it could produce zombie like creatures. Don't worry at this point in time it is extremely difficult to genetically engineer such a virus which means it would be even more difficult to take over the world using this.

So the next time you watch the Walking Dead or World War Z, rest assured that there is no plague or virus out there to make these scenarios true.  Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Zombies, Zombies, Zombies

It seems like society is in the throws of a love affair with zombies!  Not long ago it was vampires and in the future it will be something else but right now, its zombies.  Everywhere I turn, I find zombies but they've changed from totally mindless and crazy to being almost human!

We have iZombie which is a series in which the main character is a zombie who works in the town morgue. She won't stay with her kind and can take care of her eating issues there.  Of course there is the Walking Dead series

Then you got World War Z with Brad Pitt that filled the screens not long ago.  What about Day of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, and of course Resident Evil for other Zombies.  Don't forget one of the latest entries into the movie theater called "Pride, Prejuidice and Zombies" the time honored Jane Austin with zombies!  I found out about this one due to being referred to in a book I read.

As for books, there are the usual fictional books with zombies such as Anita Blake series where she is able to reanimate dead bodies or other like that but what about books that talk about Zombie Gardening!  Yes there are several of those in the Gardening section at Amazon.  Add to that the few Zombie cookbooks that have been published including a vegan zombie one for those who do not eat meat. 

Think its all fiction?  If you do a search on the internet you can even find articles at the Discover Magazine Blog, Live Science, and io9 which look at the neuroscience of the zombie brain!  Its interesting because many of the conclusions are based on the way zombies are portrayed in movies and on the science of animals such as the wasps who inject venom into cockroaches, then lay their eggs in the animal's belly and when the wasps hatch, they eat the cockroach.  Though the whole process the cockroach is alive but paralyzed.

Apparently, there is even an annual Zombie fashion show in Los Angeles, California that happens in October.  Hollywood make-up artists get together with models to create a runway full of creative Zombies to show the latest in their art.

Yes, there is even zombie music found on You Tube and in other places.  You can even find  list of the top 10 Zombie songs but if you are old enough you might remember a singing group from the 60's called The Zombies.  I think one of their most famous songs was "She's Not There"!

So right now Zombies have taken over popular culture.  What's next?  The World?