Don't Get Confused: Zombie Definition

The original definition of a zombie is "an reanimated dead corpse", but the modern day era of today shows more of a regular person becoming infected and still retaining their features of a human. I believe that the old definition of being reanimated after death shows more of a resemblance to the Norse myths of the Draugr. They are by definition a walker after death. They retain no traces of their old human form. They are just empty warrior corpses that are EVIL!!! Draugr live in tombs and raise from their graves and attack. These creatures are found in Norse myths as well as the Elder Scrolls Game Franchise.

Major differences: 1. Zombies serve none but themselves and attack humans for their brains, flesh, or to turn them into a zombie. Draugr typically serve who they are reanimated by and are capable of wielding weapons like swords. They can also use magic.
2. They Zombies look like the human they once were, while Draugr are skeletons with flesh and armor.
 3. A "Draugr Apocapypse" would never happen, but a Zombie Apocalypse could.

In a way, Draugr are the Zombies of Norse Myths and fit parts of the definition spot on. That being said, Zombies are the Draugr of modern day time so there is a significant connection.
 Draugr

Zombies These Days

The Miami Zombie is terrifying. If you don't know, in 2012, a man in Miami attacked a homeless man and ate 80% of his face. This man/Zombie, was then shot to death and the victim thankfully survived. People believe that Rudy Eugene, the crazy guy, was doing bath salts and/or marijuana resulting in his Zombie-like behavior. Cannibals are people who eat people, and it is typically used when you are starving to death. But, this guy was in Miami, which I'm pretty sure has food everywhere. Cannibals=Zombies.

Possibilities for Zombies 2: Disease/Virus

 3 words: Mad Cow Disease. It is a disease in cows that results in a zombie mindless cow. When humans eat the meat of those cows we get Mad Cow Disease. The symptoms of it are:
1. Hallucinating.
2. Change in walking.
3. Stumbling.
4. Seizures.
5. Muscle twitches.
6. Mental disorders.

Sound like a Zombie much? However, Mad Cow Disease is not contagious and you can only get it from eating the infected cow meat. I imagine that a crazy scientist gets lots of infected meat and puts it in restaurant  meats to infect a population. As always, diseases can evolve and become stronger, so a Crazy Mad Cow Disease could probably be transferred from person to person.

Individual Family History Project Reaction

My initial reaction to this project was that I am never going to be able to incorporate zombies into my family. After some time, I got some ideas. I could interview them and ask them what they would do in a zombie apocalypse scenario and I could write a narrative about what I would do if my family became zombified. Also, my sister is interested in zombies, my cousin loves video games, and my grandfather was a war veteran. I am going to think through how to connect all the pieces of zombies and my family.

Possibilities for Apocalypse 1: Parasites

I was reading up on zombies a long time ago because I was confused on how it could happen, and the thought reoccurred to me to today, how could is apocalypse happen? So I researched!

 One possibility for this epidemic to happen is a parasite or disease that spreads. One such parasite that actually exists in this world is called toxoplasmosa gonii. It's name may sound unfamiliar, but it's concept sounds familiar to me. It is a bug that infects rats and brainwashes them. The parasite can only breed inside of a cat's intestine so it makes the rat brain-dead and it forces the rat to get eaten by a cat. The scary thing is that the rat doesn't even know it's being programmed by a bug to die. This could be possible in humans because we all contain a little toxoplasmosa gonii, yet it is harmless. However like people, parasites and diseases can evolve and could potentially advance to being able to take us over to become mindless walking monsters known as zombies.

 Whenever I thought of a zombie uprising, this is one of the more probable causes I thought of. However, how long it takes for those parasites to advance would take a crazy mental scientist to develop it, or for the bug to be exposed to radiation. Get your flu shots.

Call of Duty Zombies: Reason for Zombies

The entirety of Call of Duty Zombies is all based on element 115 or Ununpentium which is real. In the game it is used to reanimate dead body cells, thus, creating zombies. This element was found in meteorites and harvested by the Nazi's to make super soldiers, but they went out of control and zombies were made. Element 115 makes all the magical devices in the game work. It is used to control the zombies, weapons like the ray gun, teleporters, and machines that make you faster and stronger.

Collaboration

My friend in this gifted class, Ryan Jannak-Huang is doing video game research and we are going to collaborate by examining Call of Duty Zombies gameplay and why it is so popular with the zombies franchise.

Tips for the Zombie Apocalypse 1: Survival kit

The first step in surviving to the best of your ability (I'm assuming none of you want to become a brain-eating monster or be eaten by one) is to get together a survival kit. Going out and slaying all the zombies is very advanced and the average person will probably be trying to protect themselves. Just in case this epidemic ever happens, prepare a survival kit! This should contain the usual first aid kid, lots of water and food, matches for fire, flashlight, a change of clothes, a knife for carving or even combat, gloves, a compass, a map, a tent just in case you need to leave. The survival kit should contain only the necessities for basic living. You will most likely be moving around and can pick up things along the way. Here's a link to a website forum discussing the survival kit.
http://zombieresponseteam.net/zombie-survival-kit/

World War Z update

I have begun to read World War Z, and after the intro greatly sums up what the next few sections say. The book is a collection of stories from various people that experience the apocalypse. I read the first warning signs section. It very much frightened me with how much suspense it had. 

  From this description of an outbreak, it leaves me with the information that Zombie's are absolutely crazy. The first infected little boy goes mental and loses and arm without even noticing. 

Zombies themselves induce depression and sadness to the people that have to witness their loved ones become absentminded. One factor for the epidemic of loving zombies in popular culture could be the fact that putting yourself in the shoes of someone who has lost a loved one to becoming a zombie, seriously pulls on our heartstrings as human beings. 

Basis of how Zombies came to be

Zombies originated as being a reanimated dead corpse that is brought back from death by magical means like sorcery. That original meaning has died and now the popular culture rendition of it mainly refers to a person who wants to eat brains, walks slow, has no mind, and is made from natural causes and isn't brought back from death. 

Zombies became really popular after 1968 when Night of the Living Dead by George Romero aired. I have yet to watch this movie and review it despite my fear of scary movies. 

Check out this Intellectual video!

I recently watched this informational video about zombies, and it is fairly scientific.
Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa25r6XO394&list=UUC552Sd-3nyi_tk2BudLUzA&index=14