We all know zombies are only in horror movies. Or do we? An article in a University of Leicester physics journal predicts that zombies could kill most people on Earth in just 100 days. Students predicted there would only be 273 survivors of a zombie apocalypse. The students were not using real zombies. Instead, they pretended a deadly virus had infected someone and spread around the world. One person with the virus would have a 90 per cent chance of giving it to another person every day. At that rate, the human population would fall to just 273 people by day 100.
A professor at the university explained why students did research using zombies, even though they do not exist. He said: "Every year we ask students to write short papers for the 'Journal of Physics Special Topics'. It lets the students show off their creative side and apply some of the physics they know." He also said it gives students practice in writing and checking academic papers. He added that it tested the ability of students to use their understanding of physics to imaginary situations. This could help in the future to prepare us for real-life disasters.