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zombie questions

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  • 21-07-2014 2:38am
    #1
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭


    I am currently binge watching the walking dead and am wondering


    1) Exactly how much potential energy is trapped inside a zombie anyway ? The mofos can keep going for longer than I can

    2) Is stabbing one through the eye and damaging the zombie brain not a rather simplistic way of killing one ? I mean in an earlier episode they showed that ther corpse brain reactivates only at the base of the brain stem... near the neck . So how would stabbing one through the eye into the frontal lobe actually damage the reanimated part ? Dodgy logic folks :pac:


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    #2
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    BeerSteakBirds wrote: »
    1) Exactly how much potential energy is trapped inside a zombie anyway ? The mofos can keep going for longer than I can
    All organic matter is full of all kinds of potential energy. It's enough to turn a few thousand larvae into flies and feed many other animals, insects, bacteria and plants. Zombies wouldn't be an unlimited source of energy, they are a closed system. The lack of a digestive system means they can't bring in energy for the outside meaning the only fuel a zombie has is it's own tissues.
    2) Is stabbing one through the eye and damaging the zombie brain not a rather simplistic way of killing one ? I mean in an earlier episode they showed that ther corpse brain reactivates only at the base of the brain stem... near the neck . So how would stabbing one through the eye into the frontal lobe actually damage the reanimated part ? Dodgy logic folks :pac:
    The fact they can put just about any object through the skull with minimum effort annoys me much more. You'd swear zombie skulls are made out of jelly. From the point of view of doing critical damage to the small part of the brain that still functioning I think something through the eye would work nine times out of ten, but I wouldn't want to depend on it.

    The walking dead is a drama, the zombies are really just a backdrop to that drama, if you thought out every scene you'd see a never ending list of problems, like how come every forest is full of zombies? I know you could argue that they fled the towns but, they just appear out of nowhere in every forest. It's a bit ridiculous that in a country the size of America that zombies could have total coverage of such a land mass.


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    #3
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭BeerSteakBirds


    ScumLord wrote: »
    All organic matter is full of all kinds of potential energy. It's enough to turn a few thousand larvae into flies and feed many other animals, insects, bacteria and plants. Zombies wouldn't be an unlimited source of energy, they are a closed system. The lack of a digestive system means they can't bring in energy for the outside meaning the only fuel a zombie has is it's own tissues.

    but how does it harness or release that energy and when it goes on a feeding frenzy what happens when its stomach is full ? also why not just knock their teeth out and wear the chainmail gloves etc which dog handlers wear when training attack dogs ?

    Have you ever seen a chainsaw used successfully in a zombie movie ? it might be mire efficient than wasting ammunition. I think I'd be carrying one of those along with the rest of my kit plus light armor and I'd be sorted. Swing a chainsaw in a circle while armored up and nobodys going to get very close to you in one piece


    ScumLord wrote: »
    The walking dead is a drama, the zombies are really just a backdrop to that drama, if you thought out every scene you'd see a never ending list of problems, like how come every forest is full of zombies? I know you could argue that they fled the towns but, they just appear out of nowhere in every forest. It's a bit ridiculous that in a country the size of America that zombies could have total coverage of such a land mass.

    I am half way through the series now. I think the forests which appeared so far are kind of close to villages and towns but you are right.


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    #4
    vinegarZombie
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭vinegarZombie


    I think , somebody involved in the production of WD also said, that in later seasons , the zombies become weaker , and less aggressive because of the lack of food. If you remember in the first season they could smell a human from a great distance , that’s why they had to cover themselves with blood to mask the smell. I am not sure how much time has past since the outbreak , but some of the first zombies, would be heavily decomposing , making there skin flesh and bones weaker. Its hard to remain sexi when rigor mortis kicks in :)


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    #5
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    BeerSteakBirds wrote: »
    but how does it harness or release that energy
    The body already has processes that allow it to effectively eat itself during starvation periods. The body is able to break down everything from muscle tissue to organs to sustain itself. A zombie wouldn't have the energy requirements of a living human. Two of the most energy intensive organs in the human body are the brain and the gut, so with them off line a zombie can use the fuel available in the body much more efficiently. But it will run out and the zombie will die.


    and when it goes on a feeding frenzy what happens when its stomach is full ?
    Zombies don't really go on feeding frenzies, anything they eat just sits in their stomach and if they eat to much their stomach would burst open. Remember the real enemy with a zombie isn't the zombie itself but the disease it's carrying. It doesn't need to or really want to eat you, it wants to infect you.

    Although having said that I don't think the walking dead is working on the principle that this is a disease.
    also why not just knock their teeth out and wear the chainmail gloves etc
    In an actual zombie outbreak zombies would probably be highly infectious, simply getting zombie blood on you could lead to infection.
    Have you ever seen a chainsaw used successfully in a zombie movie ?
    Sure, I wouldn't use one as a weapon though, it's not really designed to cut through flesh and could end up doing more damage to the user than it would to the zombies. I expect it would break down pretty rapidly too.


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    #6
    degrassinoel
    Registered Users Posts: 10,731 ✭✭✭✭degrassinoel


    Chainsaw + Zombies = Evil Dead

    Surely you've seen those movies BSB?


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    #7
    Tzar Chasm
    Registered Users Posts: 2,069 ✭✭✭Tzar Chasm


    Heres an experiment for you.

    get a chainsaw, get a leg of lamb or similar, cut the meat, see how long it takes to clog the mechanisim

    you might be surprised by how delicate chainsaws are


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    #8
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    Tzar Chasm wrote: »
    you might be surprised by how delicate chainsaws are
    That's effectively how chainsaw protection pants work isn't it? They just clog up the mechanism with fabric.


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    #9
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭BeerSteakBirds


    degrassinoel wrote: »
    Chainsaw + Zombies = Evil Dead

    Surely you've seen those movies BSB?

    Doh !!! Yes you are right ! They seem effective at least in the movies though. Terrifyingly so in Texas Chainsaw Massacre


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    #10
    Tzar Chasm
    Registered Users Posts: 2,069 ✭✭✭Tzar Chasm


    ScumLord wrote: »
    That's effectively how chainsaw protection pants work isn't it? They just clog up the mechanism with fabric.

    yeah, type 1 chaps and type 2 trousers, type 3 sometimes has a sort of ' chainmail ' but I havent seen many of those.

    same sort of principle the mechanisim would clog very quickly, skin would nearly do it on its own


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    #11
    Tzar Chasm
    Registered Users Posts: 2,069 ✭✭✭Tzar Chasm


    BeerSteakBirds wrote: »
    Doh !!! Yes you are right ! They seem effective at least in the movies though. Terrifyingly so in Texas Chainsaw Massacre

    The 30-50cc chainsaw you have at home go's at about 30-40 km/h.

    I have a 75cc it does about 60km/h

    the realistic upper limit for single operator handheld is about 130cc which would get up to 110km/h.

    The one in texas chainsaw massacre looked and sounded like it was about 80-100 cc with a short bar, that might be good for one bald naked body before it gunked up, but theres no way an average human could wield that for more than a few minutes


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    #12
    murray.eoghan
    Registered Users Posts: 1,826 ✭✭✭murray.eoghan


    if you want a good weapon it would need to be light,sharp,hard to break and long. Like a machete they go through anything.


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    #13
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    I reckon the best weapon would be the pike, it was the pinnacle of hand held weapons in many ways. Axe head, stabbing tip and hook all at one end and a length of anywhere from 6ft to 22ft keep you safe from infection.

    Of course you're not going to find any down the local hardware shop but they could be easy enough to make.


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    #14
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭BeerSteakBirds


    I had a fondness for the samurai sword in Walking Dead . You would have to know how to use one though. I wonder if a flame thrower would just make zombies more dangerous while they burn as they would be likely to attack you and risk setting fire to you.


    Maybe bear traps and pits would be best and save ammunition to clear up a zombie mess. Reusable and not wasting ammunition , they also work around the clock for you while you try to sleep safely.


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    #15
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭BeerSteakBirds


    something that also bothers me is the way living flesh tends to fall apart so easily and quickly once a zombie gets its nails and teeth onto it.

    Human canines and molars are not meant for attacking and bringing down live prey yet they seem to make short work of anything they bite into. Should permanently hungry zombies not be walking around toothless or with loose teeth (and gums which do not self repair) after 24 hours of uncontrollable biting ? And we don't have claws. We have relatively harmless nails yet if a zombie scratches somebody that somebodys stomach rips open better than any scalpel.


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    #16
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    BeerSteakBirds wrote: »
    something that also bothers me is the way living flesh tends to fall apart so easily and quickly once a zombie gets its nails and teeth onto it.

    Human canines and molars are not meant for attacking and bringing down live prey yet they seem to make short work of anything they bite into. Should permanently hungry zombies not be walking around toothless or with loose teeth (and gums which do not self repair) after 24 hours of uncontrollable biting ? And we don't have claws. We have relatively harmless nails yet if a zombie scratches somebody that somebodys stomach rips open better than any scalpel.
    In reality the fact humans can't rip skin apart would help spread the disease. If a zombie rips it's prey to pieces it's effectively ending it's reproduction cycle because it's victim won't make an effective zombie. If it only scratches it's victim allowing the victim to get away infected then it's reproduced, and now their are two mobile and effective disease spreading zombies.


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    #17
    Kromdar
    Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭Kromdar


    Regarding the hands/teeth ripping open people, it has been said in the good book that this is due to the brain's pain limitatons, we could potentially have the strength to rip someone apart [depending on the hosts own strength] but that our brain would normally stop us because it is exceeding the stresses that our muscles can take. With no brain to stop us, the zombie could keep trying to bite/scratch/rip until it damages itself.
    Imagine working out, or any other act of physical exertion. Chances
    are that pain and exhaustion will dictate your limits. These factors do
    not apply to the dead. They will continue an act, with the same
    dynamic energy, until the muscles supporting it literally disintegrate.


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    #18
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    Kromdar wrote: »
    Regarding the hands/teeth ripping open people, it has been said in the good book that this is due to the brain's pain limitatons,
    It's true your body is capable of of more strength and that it has limitations but that energy is reserved for fight or flight, using it is a one time thing and after you've used it your injured. Zombies wouldn't get the adrenaline dump needed to kick it off either. They have no fear to engage the response or the energy reserves and working blood network to fuel such a spurt.

    If you watch how prey animals take down their prey their pretty cautious about it, the cats make a surgical strike, wolves chase their prey to exhaustion so it can't put up a fight at the end. So zombies attacking at full pelt against a healthy human in fight or flight would get destroyed, even a pack of zombies would have trouble doing any kind of critical trauma to a person.

    But if you think that out it makes getting stuck in a zombie hoard even more terrifying. Imagine being stuck under dozens of zombies that can't kill you only nips bits out of you killing you very slowly, or slowly enough for the disease to take over, maybe a few days.


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    #19
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭BeerSteakBirds


    Kromdar wrote: »
    ...this is due to the brain's pain limitatons, we could potentially have the strength to rip someone apart [depending on the hosts own strength] but that our brain would normally stop us because it is exceeding the stresses that our muscles can take. With no brain to stop us, the zombie could keep trying to bite/scratch/rip until it damages itself.

    I have exceeded the advice of my brain and injured myself in the gym and sports before. I have continues to ignore the good advice of my brain. However I did not develop superhuman strength. On the contrary my injured muscles simply became incapable of supporting weight. Also if I was a zombie without a brain giving good advice, my teeth while strong ones would still loosen and come out after a few minutes of uncontrollable grinding with no possibility of self repair of the gums. So I am wondering why a lot more zombies arent completely toothless.


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    #20
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    BeerSteakBirds wrote: »
    I have exceeded the advice of my brain and injured myself in the gym and sports before. I have continues to ignore the good advice of my brain. However I did not develop superhuman strength. On the contrary my injured muscles simply became incapable of supporting weight. Also if I was a zombie without a brain giving good advice, my teeth while strong ones would still loosen and come out after a few minutes of uncontrollable grinding with no possibility of self repair of the gums. So I am wondering why a lot more zombies arent completely toothless.
    Human teeth probably would break but that would be an advantage to a zombie in many ways. Broken teeth would be sharper and more likely to break the skin of their victims. They only need a few months of use out of them and they can't pick up infections so they're at no loss losing or breaking some teeth.


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    #21
    Cienciano
    Registered Users Posts: 14,226 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    ScumLord wrote: »
    I reckon the best weapon would be the pike, it was the pinnacle of hand held weapons in many ways. Axe head, stabbing tip and hook all at one end and a length of anywhere from 6ft to 22ft keep you safe from infection.

    Of course you're not going to find any down the local hardware shop but they could be easy enough to make.

    This.
    I cannot watch the walking dead. A guy going around with probably the worst weapon you could possibly choose, a crossbow.
    Basically, a brushpole with a bit nail sticking out the end would be the perfect weapon. And a smaller hand held one if they got closer.
    Walking dead use similar to kill zombies through fences (in culls around the prison), but I suppose for story purposes don't have them in other situations.


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    #22
    BeerSteakBirds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 502 ✭✭✭BeerSteakBirds


    But the longer the pike , the slower it must be to use. If one is rushing at you then it would be a very safe way to defend yourself but if you get rushed by a half dozen zombies I don't see a pike being useful. against regular humans you might do enough damage to keep a few at bay but for zombie you need pinpoint accuracy i.e a brain shot every time otherwise they keep crowding you while clawing and biting


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    #23
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    BeerSteakBirds wrote: »
    But the longer the pike , the slower it must be to use. If one is rushing at you then it would be a very safe way to defend yourself but if you get rushed by a half dozen zombies I don't see a pike being useful.
    These were a battlefield weapon and would have been used to fend off large armies. It's true their primary use was as a wall of spikes that could plough it's way through anything that was in front of it and would require numbers and support when the users were just conscripts but well trained soldiers would use it in one on one combat.


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