Zombie’s are something most people write off as purely fiction, something you only ever see in video games, and films. What if I told you that there have actually been several cases of zombies in real life, and countless examples in nature? What if scientists had actually invented a way to create zombies, which could potentially be used as a devastating weapon. This is a list of 10 ways the zombie apocalypse could actually happen.
Neurogenesis
Neurogenesis allows scientists to potentially revive dead brain cells, bringing the deceased back to the realm of the living. However this procedure doesn’t come without it’s risks. One thing to take into account is that the brain cells on the outer layer of the brain contain our emotions, memories, and our ability to use logic. The dangerous part is that those are the parts of the brain that will decay first, which means that if you start the revivification too late then you may only be able to revive the inner parts of the brain. What do the inner parts of the brain do? Good question; the inner parts of the brain are what control your bodily functions like eating, breathing, and just generally keeping you alive. To revive you in this way would turn you into a mindless zombie, where only your instinct to eat could control.
Ophiocordyceps
Ophiocordyceps is a disturbing parasite that forces it’s way into a an animals brain and then uses what is essentially mind control to move the animals body. The fungus has been observed to infect the brains of ants, walk them to a suitable spot then grow out of it’s brain. An ant will forage through plants looking for food, on a bad day one of these ants may encounter the fungi and get infected. The fungi releases chemicals that take control of the ants nervous system, giving it control over it’s body. The ant is dead at this point but still moving. It’s technically possible that a parasite like this could infect humans one day and cause a zombie apocalypse.
Toxoplasma gondii
This is another brain invading parasite, which can cause abnormal behaviour in animals. Humans can get the parasite from their cats, and it’s estimated that millions of people in the world currently have this parasite. Rats infected with the parasite will scurry towards cats, an animal they usually avoid at all costs, and then will be eaten by the cat. Once the cat finishes it’s meal the parasite is now alive inside the feline. The parasite lives in on cat faeces, which is why doctors have been warning pregnant women to avoid cat litters for more than 90 years. It’s possible that, once infected, a human may display abnormal behaviour, including things as drastic as car crashes and schizophrenia. Although some studies have disputed whether it can actually cause abnormalities in humans; right now it’s a mystery.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
This is essentially mad cow disease but occurring in humans. It’s a brain disorder that causes muscle jerking, stumbling, seizures, and hallucinations. The symptoms essentially cause you act like a zombie. 90% of the people diagnosed with the disease die with a year. If the disease were to mutate it could do so in way that makes it’s victims not only act like zombies, but became violent and even attempt to eat other humans.
Nanobots
Nanobots are robots that are so small that you can’t even see them with ordinary human eyes. One of the main functions of nanobots could be to live inside your brain. Having nanobots inside you brain would make you funnier, smarter, and more attractive. However they would also have the ability to potentially control your thoughts, which means they could turn you into a zombie. Studies have also shown that they have the ability to control a creatures movements for a month after they die. After one month the most effective method for nanobots to jump to another host in order to survive would be by biting a hole into another human, and jumping ship then. It’s possible someone could use these nanobots to start a cyborg-esque zombie apocalypse.
Neurotoxins
In 1962 Claire Narcisse was declared dead, and buried in the usual fashion. What wasn’t usual, however, was that he was seen walking around the local area 18 years later. But, hold on, this wasn’t the only case of this happening, cases first started appearing in the 17th and 18th century. It turns out a local voodoo priest had used some sort of chemicals to revivify the body and, make it walk around again. He somehow managed to get free, and reach his sister. He told her that he had been revived by a voodoo doctor, and forced to work as a slave.
Scientists from Harvard made their way to the Jungle to find out what actually happened. He was introduced to the witch doctor and they showed him the powder they had used to resurrect Narcisse. When scientists used the powder on rats, the rats would go into a death like state, hours later they would be alive again. However this whole incident has never been independently proved and might not be true. This incident was the inspiration for countless zombie apocalypse films.
The Jewel Wasp
The Jewel Wasp lays it’s eggs in a way that’ll make your skin crawl. It stings a cockroach in order to paralyse it and then lays it’s larvae in it’s body. Grabbing the cockroach by the antenna, it now proceeds to drag the unwitting bug back to it’s home. It lays it’s larvae inside the cockroach and then blocks the entrance to the burrow, locking it inside. After three days trapped, the eggs will start to hatch, and then proceed to each the roach from the inside.
Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga
A type of bee known as Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga has the disturbing ability to take control of the mind of spiders and then hatch it’s eggs in it’s bodies. Wasps paralyse the spider with it’s stinger, and lays it’s larva their. The Larva will release a chemical that takes over the spiders brain, forcing it to do whatever it pleases. Once it’s taken control of the spider it will force it to build a new web more suitable for the wasps that will grow out of it’s abdomen. The chemical is unidentified but perhaps this could be used against humans one day, and cause the zombie apocalypse.
Horsehair worms
This parasite lays it’s eggs in water, and when a living creature comes and drinks from the water it becomes infected. The parasite then invades the creatures brain and takes control of it’s body. It’ stays dormant for a few weeks, and the animal it’s infected won’t even know it’s there. But, after a few weeks, it manipulated the creatures body, and forces it to run into a nearby body of water. The creature drowns and dies. After this the parasites emerge and live in the water. Although rare, there have been documented cases of humans being infected, and it could happen again. It’s unlikely this could lead to a zombie apocalypse, but possible if it were to mutate.
The Miami Zombie
In 2012 a man named Rudy Eugene attacked and attempted to eat a man in Miami, California. Rudy accused a poor homeless guy named Ronald Popper of stealing his bible, and then beat him unconscious. He began to eat his face, which left the homeless man permanently blind, and disfigured. A cop appeared at the scene and ordered to him to stop, when he refused to follow orders, and even snarled at the police like a wild animal, the officer shot him dead. Rudy was dubbed the Miami zombie, for acting exactly like a zombie. Nobody really knows what caused him to act this way, but drugs such as bath salts are a possibility.