CAJ- Zombie Science

ZOMBIE SCIENCE

          The concept of "zombies" has been around since the Mesopotamian times. They are referenced in "The Epic of Gilgamesh", the oldest known work of literature. However, the concept of "Zombie Science" is a much more recent development. Zombie science is the use of zombies or zombie-ism as a theoretical model to base hypothesis on or as a basis for research. This research can be applied in a plethora of fields, including medical, economical, anthropological, and Neuroscience.

Even though my topic is based fundamentally on fiction, there are quite a few reputable organizations running research programs, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (It started as a “tongue in cheek campaign to engage new audiences with preparedness messages”, but it “has proven to be a very effective platform”). The concept of a Zombie apocalypse is often used in the testing of mathematical and scientific models, for example, when testing the spread of a virus. Several colleges, such as the University of Arizona, Carleton College and the University of Ottowa have published studies relating to Zombies. For example, epidemiological analysis papers, stating that an outbreak of even Living Dead's slow zombies "is likely to lead to the collapse of civilization, unless it is dealt with quickly."  

In a study published by Cornell University Library, Stephen R. Kane and Franck Selsis showed that even a conservative estimate of outbreaks of zombie infections (referred to as Spontaneous Necro-Animation Psychosis or SNAP) would mean that there are least 2,500 contaminated planets within 100 parsecs of Earth. They thus conclude that this helps to explain the Fermi Paradox due to the devastating effect of encountering such planets during the planetary exploration phase of an advanced civilization.

One of the largest groups associated with this topic is the Zombie Research Society (ZRS) which was founded in 2007 as an organization dedicated to the historic, cultural and scientific study of the living dead. The organization has grown to include hundreds of thousands of active members across the world. Their team of researchers currently consists of a number of prominent authors, artists and academics committed to the real-life research of zombies and the undead, as well as a core group of volunteers who handle the daily management of ZRS.

Another example of zombie research is the STEM Behind Hollywood TI-Nspire™ activity, Zombie Apocalypse, and its sequel, Zombie Apocalypse II: The Humans Strike Back, created by Texas Instruments to, “encourage students to investigate chemistry and life sciences principles, to observe processes such as titration, and to engage in designing experiments, predicting outcomes and testing their hypotheses”.

It would appear that funding for zombie research stems fundamentally from the entertainment world (Hollywood), educational center (Universities, Colleges, etc) , and volunteers. In my opinion, the use of a zombie apocalypse/ zombie model can be useful in real world situations, as was proved by the CDC’s campaign, but it should not be given priority over more applicable topics.

   

 Does the science in this topic benefit everybody? If the zombie apocalypse comes, the research would theoretically benefit all, at least, those with the necessary tools to access that research. It would seem that, as per the norm, those with the most resources are the most likely to benefit, although there are geographical advantages as well.

    However, things like pandemic models can aid scientists in combating the spread of diseases, which would benefit all. Even so, I believe society should focus on, and fund, other, more easily applicable areas of science.

    The majority of knowledge of Zombies comes from popular culture. In-fact the very premise itself came from Folklore to be developed by such as Lovecraft, Matheson, Romero (Night of the Walking Dead), and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead). Its very progress is dictated by popular culture and society. Therefore, if society ever loses interest, this area of research will dwindle dramatically. Also, i would imagine that “zombie science” is not taken as seriously by the medical community in general, due to its lack of concrete evidence/ proof.

    Examples of impacting influences: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Haitian Folklore, it can be argued that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was impactful as well,  Lovecraft, I Am Legend (book and movie), Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, The Magic Island (suggested source of ‘zombi’ in US speech),  White Zombie, The Evil Dead, Re-Animator, Zombieland, World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, just to name a few. 

There are also several ethical issues related to Zombie science: in 2005 a group of scientists at Pittsburgh managed to revive laboratory dogs from the dead. Similarly,
A surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Hasan Alam, has tested the technique of "suspended animation" about 200 times on pigs, with a 90 per cent success rate. This raises many ethical questions, including some vaguely Frankenstein-esk imagery.

As to the future zombie science is leading us to, there are a couple options. 

1. Scientists mess around too much, eventually causing a zombie apocalypse.

2. The use of blood models and the like aid all mankind 

3. Zombie science remains a fringe science, with some successes that can be readily accessed by all.    

Polaroid Advertisement Comparison

When comparing the two Polaroid advertisements, one can observe several distinctions. The first and probably most obvious difference between the two Polaroid advertisements is that Polaroid ad number one is in black and white while the other one is in color. The Polaroid camera itself is located in the center of the picture in both ads. However, in Polaroid ad number one, it is being admired by a potential customer through a storefront window, a busy street visible in the background, whereas in the second one, it is the sole object of interest. Furthermore, due to the time gap that most likely lies between the two advertisements, the colored advertisement shows a much more recent Polaroid camera.

The text is situated beneath the camera, at the bottom of the picture in both ads, but the content differs vastly. The text of the first ad describes in great detail what an impressive technological achievement the Polaroid camera is and really tries to capitalize on this. The second text, on the other hand, emphasizes the privacy a Polaroid offers in comparison to other devices.

Since the first advertisement stresses the technological aspect, we can assume that it is from a time when photography was still something extraordinary and special and not something that everybody had access to. Judging by the looks of the man’s bowler hat, which is no longer a common item of clothing, the advertisement is probably from the 1950s. The text of Polaroid advertisement number two talks about breaches of privacy and explicitly mentions social networks and the American NSA. To understand these allusions, one needs to know about common practices of social networks such as using personal information for material gain and the recent espionage scandal related to the NSA. It therefore has to be very recent. In conclusion, one can state that both advertisements are clearly a product of their time and can not be understood without knowledge of the underlying social assumptions.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE: The common Thursday

My Thursdays, just like most of my other days, have a pattern and a schedule. I go to my German and English classes, afterwards I head home for lunch and some homework, then around five the real work starts.
Today i arrived a little late at the studio, the kids were already there. Luckily for me, Christina, the owner, is fairly lax about being a little late. I suppose it comes with the territory, I've yet to meet an overly strict yoga teacher, even one who specializes in flying yoga.
It turned out that three out of the five who came today were fairly tired and just wanted a relaxing floor yoga session. However, the two smaller ones (who have enough energy between them to power Graz for the next 50 years) had their hearts set on working with the silks.
They got their wish. We divided the class, and I started them off with reviewing some older moves they knew well, like the Russian Splits:

  Then we moved on to new elements. Thing 1 and Thing 2, as I call them, are always really enthusiastic about learning new things, but I often have a little trouble getting them to sit still long enough for me to explain how to actually do the move. Today though, they were surprisingly well behaved, and we were able to get a lot done.

 

They may be a handful but I still really enjoy teaching them. 

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