Berlin est-elle prête en cas d'attaque de zombies?
«Berlin est-elle bien préparée en cas de catastrophe liée à des zombies?» C'est la question délirante que viennent de poser deux membres du Parti pirate allemand au Sénat de Berlin, rapporte le tabloïd Bildzeitung. Prenant pour modèle le Centre for Disease Control and Prevention aux Etats-Unis, qui a édité il y a quelques mois un manuel de survie en cas d'attaque de zombies sous la forme d'une BD humoristique (pour sensibiliser les jeunes à la prévention des catastrophes,) les Pirates ont demandé au Sénat s'il était possible d'éditer un manuel de ce genre à Berlin, et «si non, pourquoi pas?», comme l'explique le quotidien régional Augsburger Allgemeine. Réponse très sérieuse et un brin dédaigneuse du Sénat, qui se trouve dans l'obligation de répondre à toutes les questions posés par les fractions politiques, comme le rapporte le quotidien Die Welt: Les Pirates ne sont pas de cet avis. Photo: Un zombie à Madrid, le 7 février 2009, pour le «Jour des fiertés Zombies». publicité
Quebec cancels zombie apocalypse training scenario | World News Network™
There will be no zombie apocalypse in Quebec next week. The provincial government has stepped in to cancel plans for a zombie-themed emergency training exercise. Participants at an annual symposium on civil security had been planning to use a hypothetical zombie attack to test emergency preparedness. Such a theme has been used elsewhere. The logic behind it is to use something that can never actually occur, as opposed to a flood or an ice storm, because that way emergency-preparedness officials might think of new problems and solutions. ‘Canada would never be a safe haven for zombies.’ News of the plan had elicited many guffaws this week, along with some complaints about wasteful government spending. So now the provincial cabinet has stepped in. The new scenario will simulate a flood. “I thought … the theme of the workshop had taken on a greater importance than its goal and that it was better to change it,” Bergeron said in a statement. © The Canadian Press, 2013
Neural parasitology: how parasites manipulate host behaviour
The ability of parasites to alter the behaviour of their hosts fascinates both scientists and non-scientists alike. One reason that this topic resonates with so many is that it touches on core philosophical issues such as the existence of free will. If the mind is merely a machine, then it can be controlled by any entity that understands the code and has access to the machinery. This special issue of The Journal of Experimental Biology highlights some of the best-understood examples of parasite-induced changes in host brain and behaviour, encompassing both invertebrate and vertebrate hosts and micro- and macro-parasites. The observation that parasitic infection can modify specific host behaviours is an old one (see Moore, 2002). The general consensus has been that these parasites have evolved the ability to manipulate host behaviour in order to advance their own reproductive success (Moore, 2002). Joanne P. Shelley A.
HOW PERNICIOUS PARASITES TURN VICTIMS INTO ZOMBIES
Parasites come in all shapes and forms. From skinny tapeworms that infest intestines to the microscopic infectious agent of malaria (Plasmodium), parasites are usually inconvenient and sometimes lethal. But there is one group of parasites that is particularly pernicious – they are the parasites that hijack their host’s nervous system, turning their victims into zombies. Given the challenges faced by this small but dedicated community, Michael Dickinson and JEB colleague Janis Weeks invited Adamo and Toxoplasma gondii expert Joanne Webster from Imperial College, UK, to co-edit a special edition of The Journal of Experimental Biology dedicated to the burgeoning field of neuroparasitology, to learn more about how parasites turn their victims into zombies. Launching the collection with her review, ‘Parasites: evolution’s neurobiologists’, Adamo outlines the three strategies that parasites use to alter host behaviour. Alteration of host behaviour Behavioural manipulation by Toxoplasma
Zombies and Other Walking Dead - Ruth Owen
Zombies on the web
Compiled by David Chalmers Zombies are hypothetical creatures of the sort that philosophers have been known to cherish. A zombie is physically identical to a normal human being, but completely lacks conscious experience. Varieties of zombies There are actually three different kinds of zombies. Hollywood zombies. (There are also zombie cocktails, Unix processes, and pop groups, but three is enough for now. These three classes are distinct. Philosophical zombies It is philosophical zombies that I'm most interested in here, since I'm a philosopher and they raise very interesting issues. Most people doubt that zombies could exist in the actual world. For example: It can be used as a way of illustrating the "hard problem" of consciousness: why do physical processes give rise to conscious experience? Related ideas There are two related ideas that turn up elsewhere in the philosophical and psychological literature. History So here are a few links for the zombieholic. Papers on zombies Go to:
