This Is How To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse, According To Science

In a lot of zombie films, the heroes run around shooting zombies in the head from close range - but that may not actually be the best way to deal with the living dead.

Instead, survival would depend on reducing the disease’s reproduction ratio - the number of people infected by each zombie, according to Joanna Verran and Matthew Crossley of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Writing for The Conversation, the researchers argue that some of the basic strategies seen in films wouldn’t actually be that effective.

Hiding from the zombies would create a perfect way for all the survivors to be infected rapidly - and killing zombies is risky, and carries the problem that some infected people may not show symptoms.

The researchers write, ‘This leaves the scariest of the options: eradicate the infected area with a pre-emptive cull, with little to no concern for who, or what, is destroyed in the process.

‘With heavy casualties but a guaranteed end to the infection, this is often the choice the ‘military’ characters plump for in a zombie story.

‘Assuming you could successfully eradicate all of the infected individuals, this might appear the best option. But moral issues remain regarding the heavy losses of uninfected individuals that would also take place.