Did anyone else see this?


WASHINGTON — When Woody Harrelson escapes the living dead in "Zombieland," a new movie opening this Friday, should he head for the hills or the mall? A recently published research paper suggests that he's probably better off hiding in the mall to save his delicious brain.

The world is full of things that move in zombie-like fashion, such as particles flowing through a turbulent fluid or the unpredictable price changes of the stock market, so physicists seek insight into this behavior by creating so called "random walking" models.

Physicist Davide Cassi at the Università di Parma in Italy looked at how long an entity hiding in a complex structure could survive if being pursued by predatory random walkers. Cassi's paper, recently published in the journal Physical Review E, is the first to describe a general principle of a prey’s likelihood to survive over time while hiding in an irregular structure.

Though the paper itself does not specifically refer to fleeing from zombies, it describes "the survival probability of immobile targets annihilated by random walkers." The conclusions suggest that the people trapped in a mall in "Dawn of the Dead" may be better off than the folks stuck in a farmhouse in "Night of the Living Dead."

Cassi found that the likelihood of survival when threatened by predatory random walkers is closely related to how complex the prey’s hideout is. The more twists and turns, the safer you'll be. In structures that are highly complex and irregular, the chances of the predator coming into contact with its target shrinks down to almost zero.

Cassi formulates a model to describe the behavior of randomly moving particles as they travel through maze-like networks. He said that his work could apply to a wide variety of situations including the distribution of information through the internet and medicine spreading through the human body."

There are a lot of applications of these results in a lot of fields of sciences," Cassi said. "The most amazing field of applications of these results are in biology, biochemistry and other organisms.

"So remember, when the zombies come, flee to the biggest shopping mall you can find and remember that, using zombie movies as a guide, the undead often win.




link: Zombie Physics: How to Avoid the Shambling Undead - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

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That cold ain't the weather, that's death approachin'.

I'd say the shopping mall until some biker gang comes along and gets you all killed.

My apartment sits about ten feet off ground level. Lined up near the only door in is a washer/dryer, a freezer, and the fridge. The smaller section of our couch would fit perfectly in the gap between these appliances and the door.

Then I can sit on the remainder of the couch and wait to starve to death. Yay me!

Honestly, I would grab as many supplies as possible and head for the woods or the country. Don't know how long I would last but that seems like the safest bet. Go into town and grab supplies and go back into hiding. In 28 days later they went to the country. That seemed to work. There were very few zombies and they were starving to death. Works for me!

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That cold ain't the weather, that's death approachin'.

Hehehhe. Going to the Mall or Being Eaten By Zombies? It is a difficult choice.

Luckily we have Halloween Forum Posts, Horror Films, and Video Games like Dead Rising and Left for Dead to show us how to survive the impending zombie attacks.

P.s. I would have chosen my local bar until I watched Shaun of the Dead. Plus I just read Zombies like beer just as much as they like blood.

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Darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear- E.A. Saliers

The best place would probably be a hardware store which has a high roof. You can barricade the doors and stuff, and have all the handy tools in case something arises.

Other than that, the Mall is definatley the best option.

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Gorepit - The Internet Horror Blog

Andy, the gun shop owner, in Dawn of the Dead didn't make it out. It was a gun shop! That leaves me little hope for survival in any enclosed space. I would avoid a hardware store if I were you.....lol

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That cold ain't the weather, that's death approachin'.

True Hannibal.. but guns take too long to reload. Plus, they make you keep your ammo and your weapons seperate. And gun shops are now limited on how much ammo and reloading supplies they can carry due to Homeland Security guidelines on terrorism.

And for dramatic effect (and perhaps effeciency of weapon) people are always shooting at zombies with shotguns. Is the shotgun really the best weapon to defend against zombies?

No really, is a shotgun the best weapon to defend against zombies? I need to know this information so I can be prepared for the zombie attacks

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Darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear- E.A. Saliers

lol....I think I'd go with fire. Throw a few molotov cocktails or start a nice gasoline path. Course then you'd have to worry about not setting yourself on fire and plan for an escape route that doesn't involve burning yourself up. decisions...decisions...

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That cold ain't the weather, that's death approachin'.

My sons obsessed with zombies and reckons a military base or old fashioned prisons with the sturdy walls and not chain linked fences.