Zombies are everywhere in popular culture, from horror films and TV shows to video games and comics. But have you ever wondered what would happen if there was a real zombie outbreak in your city?
A team of researchers from Aalto University in Finland did just that. They used a mathematical model to simulate how a zombie virus would spread across Helsinki, the country’s capital, and how different interventions might affect the outcome.
Their model was unique in that it took into account the movements and interactions of individual people and zombies, both inside and outside the city.
They also took into account different scenarios, such as how fast the zombies were, how long it took for people to turn into zombies after being bitten, and how effective the authorities were in containing the outbreak.
The results were not very reassuring. According to their simulation, even a single zombie infection in Helsinki (population 673,011) would result in the entire city being overrun by zombies in just seven hours. And it would only take a few days for the zombies to spread across the country.
“The speed of the epidemic surprised me,” said Professor Pauliina Ilmonen, the lead author of the study. “It made me think about ethical issues, such as the rights of individuals versus the rights of a population.”
The study was not only a fun exercise for zombie fans, but also a useful tool for understanding the dynamics of real epidemics. The researchers said their model could help assess the impact of different measures, such as lockdowns, quarantines, vaccinations and social distancing, on the spread of infectious diseases.
“The zombie plague simulation provides a way to investigate the effects of different interventions and consider them in the context of diseases with different characteristics, such as how quickly they spread or how severe they are,” the researchers wrote.
“It also allows us to investigate how misinformation could influence the outcome of an epidemic, for example by causing some people to ignore the warnings or deny the existence of zombies,” they wrote.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
