The Mathematics of Surviving Zombies - Numberphile

[@numberphile]

Some of these Zombies on some merch: numberphile.creator-spring.com/listing/zombie-equation-numberphile

[@gigaprofisi]

👍

[@MadsOcto7]

They're not zombies, they're vampires. Romero called them vampires and Matheson called them vampires. They've always been vampires.

[@andreare7766]

But where is the end of it? It just stopped.

[@rajeevk440]

Could you suggest brilliant org to let allow subscription of 1 months also as it does brings affordablity to the table ... And instead they can offer say 2 or 3 gift card and i can fully access to 3 couses of my choice.

[@owenthomas1266]

@@MadsOcto7 is

[@tekuaniaakab2050]

“Not many people have a zombie plan...they’re fools” Truly profound insight

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

hah if a zombie pandemic ever strikes I'm going to rush to the supermarket and buy all the toilet paper. I'll be so safe

[@rustymustard7798]

What? Who doesn't have a zombie plan? Fools indeed, i walk around looking down ready for decomposed hands to start bursting from the soil.

[@bobrong9645]

Well, I do have a plan that I'm willing to share: in case of a zombie outbreak, my plan is to get infected ASAP, thus I'll enjoy more brains (the cervical matter, not the Welsh beer, the latter I don't need to be a zombie to enjoy).

[@timo4938]

A whole lotta ammo will only go so far during a zombie outbreak!

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Well, if you already have an alien invasion plan, it's quite easy to adapt it for zombies.

[@Jgallstar1]

The cut at the ending not giving him a proper chance to defend himself got a good laugh out of me hahaha

[@CrazynToughKiwi]

Can we be sure the cut isn’t hiding Thomas being eliminated as a potential zombie?

[@3pi1pi]

"I'm going to suggest that if the dead started to rise, you may not go to work that day." - My new favorite quote

[@Schnabeltassentier]

My employer would probably still disagree.

[@DhairyaPant]

You would still be asked to work from home!

[@balasubr2252]

@@DhairyaPant policy making with the aide of mathematics and a thriving community of humans?

[@wcsxwcsx]

Sometimes it feels like I already work with them.

[@Triantalex]

??

[@maksymisaiev1828]

"I am not saying that you should get rid of those humans, I'm just saying what the math says Brady" - that is a miracle quote. It is like mathematician is involved in politics.

[@imperialguardsman135]

eugenics supporters be like:

[@blazebluebass]

I agree that's the best quote from this video :DD

[@dexter2392]

based

[@somedudeok1451]

I'm not telling you to make vaccines mandatory, I'm just telling you what the math says. :)

[@maksymisaiev1828]

@@somedudeok1451 that is bad. Math cannot be used as a valid point for forcing risk-based procedure.

[@maxhaibara8828]

"I'm not saying that you should get rid of other humans" so this is what social distancing actually means

[@Djorgal]

That's exactly what it is. Social distancing is the soft version of killing people on sight.

[@yerwol]

@@Djorgal And that sort of attitude is why we still have so many cases of covid today ;-)

[@MichaelOfRohan]

@@yerwol ok, then wheres the flu? Did it run and hide from covid? What about the cdc admitting the tests can hardley tell between the two?

[@yerwol]

@@MichaelOfRohan eh? You're asking where flu is?

[@MichaelOfRohan]

@@yerwol you can clearly read?

[@adamplace1414]

This was Sahara-level dry humor, mixed with a really interesting mathematic explanation, and I loved it.

[@kindoflame]

If (c-b) is negative and you are taking the square root, doesn't that imply the zombies will start invading are imaginations?

[@thechrisgrice]

Our*

[@AdityaMehendale]

No, just very complex.

[@sinecurve9999]

Their already imaginary, just don't multiply by exp(i*pi/2)

[@livedandletdie]

@@sinecurve9999 nah I prefer to not multiply by cos(a) + isin(b).

[@Rockario]

I appreciate the barely acknowledged nod towards "self-isolation preventing spread" but boy does this really lean into the worst part of zombie stories: the implication that you can't trust anyone and everyone around you is nothing more than a potential zombie.

[@unvergebeneid]

I can relate 😄

[@metallsnubben]

Basically how it feels to go to a grocery store right now

[@romanski5811]

@@metallsnubben Only in countries where many people refuse to vaccinate.

[@judychurley6623]

True; they might also be potential zombie killers - but why risk it. Mask and isolate!

[@unvergebeneid]

@@romanski5811 let's also not forget that in most countries, people don't have the luxury of being able to stupidly refuse to vaccinate :/

[@rif6876]

This needs a follow up on numberphile2 that delves deeper into the math, and does some numerical simulation of solutions.

[@ElectricGears]

Given what we (especially in the US) have learned in the last year, the Fisher equation needs an additional term to account for the percentage of the human population that thinks the zombies don't exist and will make it a point of personal pride to not protect themselves.

[@torlumnitor8230]

Don't forget the ones that will fight for zombie rights. "If you think they're dangerous you're racist."

[@TheEpicProOfMinecraf]

This comment section represents the political duality of man

[@alexandertownsend3291]

Or they could intentionally go into heavily zombie filled areas becoming zombies themselves. These people know who they are.

[@judychurley6623]

Did b just get way larger than c? Uh-oh, we're in trouble now. No wonder we are now in year 3 of the 'zombie invasion'.

[@orangenostril]

The ones who literally insist that zombies are a hoax as they are being disemboweled by a zombie at that moment.

[@shashwatsharma2596]

Scientists having a sense of humor are more terrifying than crazy scientists, You never know if they're kidding

[@Triantalex]

false.

[@Rubrickety]

He's keeping the true secret for himself: zombies can be killed by old-school multifunction digital watches.

[@AdityaMehendale]

A fine example of how considerations for "A human" differ vastly from considerations for "Humanity" under catastrophic situations. The situation is no different than "Controlled burns" that firefighters do regularly.

[@fatmn]

Great, let's get some controlled zombie outbreaks going, what could possibly go wrong? :D

[@TAP7a]

Exactly, like how in a pandemic wearing a mask and getting vaccinated are very small inconveniences that, when impressed upon individuals to do, ensure catastrophe for all is averted

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

another factor is also at which distance a zombie detects a human. The larger this distance, the less random the zombie walk will be

[@seeker296]

600 miles

[@heartache5742]

not very useful for modelling diseases though

[@danielyuan9862]

Assume the detection rate is negligable.

[@sidsixseven]

This might be my favorite Numberphile video of all time.

[@ThomasWoolley]

I'm honoured.

[@benzya]

I like this video too.

[@rtpoe]

Even accounting for all the other factors - decomposition, smarter humans moving non-randomly, etc. - the most important factor is to keep the zombie death rate above the infection rate.

[@patrickhector]

So if you're gonna go out, try take at least one zombie with you

[@kwcy92]

The most important factor is to eliminate other human.

[@adarshmohapatra5058]

The most important factor is to call the military.

[@juanausensi499]

@@kwcy92 Then you are eliminating potential zombie killers

[@ulrikbrndsted9891]

Definitely did not see that ending coming 🤣

[@lotoa3383]

“Not many people have a zombie plan...they’re fools” Dwight vibes

[@nicosc2204]

exactly

[@rade-blunner7824]

"Zee"? Can we get an equation for the proliferation of Americanisms in British English?

[@mytech6779]

More of a Spanish thing, which was likely the influence on the USA.

[@ETiWells]

These thought experiments are great for learning about epidemics and transmission but they're terrible for enjoying zombie movies. The key assumption here (and in most zombie media) is that the only way for zombies to die is being killed by humans. But a rotting corpse doesn't last very long out in the elements, animated or not. Even without factoring in our proficiency for killing other humans, the rate of decline for zombie populations will almost certainly be high as a result of environmental forces (freezing cold, meat-spoiling heat, bugs, wild animals, etc.). This rate of loss will likely outpace the rate of new zombies being created on a regional scale. The population density of major cities definitely makes transmission/risk a lot more virulent, so I guess even with some extra factors, the advice is the same: in case of zombie apocalypse, head for the hills.

[@Baconlessness]

He said the time frame he was considering was small, so decomposition isn't a factor being considered

[@torlumnitor8230]

The zombie virus is half virus half curse. Decomp isn't an issue.

[@orangenostril]

I read a really interesting interpretation of zombies where it was actually some sort of worm parasites that repair the body they're inhabiting except in special cases like fire, and influence the host's mind in varying levels for different zombies, where some acted more or less like traditional zombies but others lived close to normal in an self-isolated zombie town.

[@danielyuan9862]

Is a zombie apocalypse just a phase, then? I thought it was like an "end of humanity" type of event.

[@Nathouuuutheone]

"What's a hallmark of the zombie?" - Contagious! - Bullet to the brain! - Flesh eating! - Decaying bodies! "They move randomly" ????? Haha

[@fernando-sv7qw]

as someone that studies epidemiology it is indeed way more fun to think of diseases as zombifications

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

This guy really needs to get an updated Periodic Table. Element 104 still has its placeholder name of Unnilquadium, even though it's had the name Rutherfordium for almost a quarter of a century now.

[@brixiu5]

It's actually the Periodic Table Brady had in his high school chemistry class growing up (although the table is a bit older, from 1979). His teacher Mr. Dunaiski sent it to him when he retired. Brady credits it for him starting Periodic Videos and his interest in chemistry. In the video "Brady's Chemistry Collection" on Objectivity he discusses it at length.

[@LSA30]

He could also just slap a Post-It note on top. Boom, updated!

[@TestTestGo]

@@busimagen yes, it's out of date.

[@CathyInBlue]

It's an antique.

[@numberphile]

Hi, this was the table from my classroom when I was a schoolboy and it inspired me to create my periodicvideos KZbin channel. My old chemistry teacher donated it to me when he retired and it now hangs in my office.... It is somewhat outdated... It was actually outdated even when I was at school! Check out periodicvideos at kzbin.info (there is even a video about this table!) - Brady

[@vieczurable]

There are enormously important factors missing in those equations: social media strength, number of influencers and IQ level of endangered living population.

[@livedandletdie]

Not to mention how much money can be stolen from the masses, how many hidden laws can be passed without the masses noticing, how much tyranny can we use against the masses without them noticing, and how long can the farce of we want you to be safe and happy exist. Oh and let's not forget how much State Propaganda is there, and how much money Pfizer makes... and even better, how much money can multi millionaire Politicians earn while removing the ability for the common folks to earn a dime.

[@malek008]

Too much time on the internet...definite case of zombification.

[@somebody2988]

In the upcoming apocalypse, I'll use this video to survive

[@felixccaa]

show it the zombies - the will be astonished so much they'll forget to hunt You ....

[@howiefuzz6894]

It feels weird thinking "At least 'Somebody' is going to survive the zombie apocalypse."

[@shotguntornado]

You're just trying to make our brains smarter and tastier for them.

[@catakuri6678]

yeah, there is an anime with this idea called: Yakusoku no Neverland

[@brett3620]

I absolutely struggled my way through math courses on the path to getting my CS degree. This channel reminds me that math is wonderful, even if I’m not the best at it

[@n20games52]

If there's a zombie apocalypse, I want Mr. Woolley on my team.

[@dannyphandom]

Woolley's work is great, but his ending equation states that as the zombie speed increases, the zombie outbreak spreads faster. But zombie outbreaks actually spread a bit faster when the zombies are slower than humans. This is because injured humans can escape slower zombies more often and turn into relatively intact zombies instead of being outright killed (and eaten a bit) before reviving as a more damaged zombie which is less effective at spreading. Also faster zombies spread out faster, and therefore lose the advantage of being in a horde quicker. I made a video response to Woolley's paper on my channel where I simulate all of this, check it out!

[@bobthegoat7090]

When the mathematician starts beating you with a baseball bat in a zombie apocalypse: "It's not personal, it's just math"

[@tim40gabby25]

Are baseball bats mutated Wuhan bats? Just asking.

[@mytube001]

This has got to be the weirdest Numberphile video to date! :D

[@alexandertownsend3291]

It is topical and relevant though given you know... the Gary.

[@Zippsterman]

I'll definitely use 'it increases my chance at escaping from oncoming zombies' as one of my reasons that my room is clean enough, thankyouverymuch

[@prussian7]

Every "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse..." Book should have a chapter on Epidemiology.

[@MrJakewray]

In the event of zombies, stay the heck away from Thomas Woolley

[@Defeshh]

Kaneda's Bike!!! Nicee Love me some Akira references

[@JNCressey]

What about the posibility of curing a zombie? or being immune to zombie? or asymptomatic zombie spreaders?

[@litkh]

Thanks

[@sweepingtime]

So this is how a mathematician becomes a psychopath.

[@bobnavonvictorsteyn9017]

i love how this guy has a hard plan just in case

[@maxheinz7681]

Finally a useful application for math

[@chasbodaniels1744]

Right! We don’t need no stinkin’ bridges or satellites.

[@nekrofilzombi]

1:01 CASIO Motorcycle? Shut up and take my money!

[@excelelmira]

I think it wouldn't be difficult to add a term that moves humans away from zombies, so that humans don't move randomly anymore.

[@jamessaliba1096]

but if zombies move randomly, the sum of humans moving directly away from them will be random as well

[@livedandletdie]

@@jamessaliba1096 No, because you have Dz0 the initial state before the random diffusion, and as it changes over time, as the diffusion spreads, humans will move away in the direction of the spread, and even if the spread is random, in general you can use sphere's of influence, here, and in most cases we can generalize most nations into a 2d grid, and on this grid the random average diffusion can be thought of as 2d sphere or a circle, and the humans will move away perpendicular to the tangent of the circle. So it isn't true to say that it would be random.

[@czaage6422]

Love the Akira reference

[@gandung777]

Perfectly cut ending

[@TheAlps36]

I think Central Australia has its new tourism slogan: get away from the zombies

[@chasbodaniels1744]

If thirst and sunstroke don’t get you first.

[@skyegreytv]

Thanks, was always curious the rate of diffusion of zombies if I gave them motorbikes.

[@bl4cksp1d3r]

They would diffuse pretty quickly yeah. Mostly into separate body parts lol

[@chrstfer2452]

Zombies only random walk if no non-zombies are present though....

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

But what you're not understanding is, in a real zombie apocalypse, it might be beneficial _not_ to think about the maths. Because zombies want brains, which means that, counterintuitively, the optimal technique is actually to brainlessly panic!

[@JithinJacob333]

Very funny guy! Love him!

[@Veptis]

My favorite quote "upside down miracle squared - scary maths"

[@cee_jay_0]

the periodic table in the background is over 30 years old :o

[@kinshuksinghania4289]

Ha if Zombies get there hands on this piece of mathematics, we're doomed!!!

[@IMVoxerus]

Also isn't the idea of zombies that at a certain distance they no long move randomly,,, they move towards you.

[@rmsgrey]

That's a question of scale - if a zombie is close enough to switch from search mode to pursuit mode, then you can count that as an interaction rather than as an intermediate behaviour.

[@EebstertheGreat]

To be fair, sick people don't move randomly either, but that's still the model we use for infectious diseases.

[@oliverfalco7060]

I mean... I probably was not going to click on the video, but then I saw Kaneda's motorbike in the thumbnail

[@Runoratsu]

Of course the equation is still solvable if the b > c, after all, Zombies are imaginary, not real.

[@Nothing2150]

Top tier comment

[@JohnDlugosz]

1:07 "Upside-down triangle" implies that triangles have a preferred orientation. Why is this upside-down? Who's to say this isn't right-side-up or rotated sideways?

[@wcsxwcsx]

Because it will fall over.

[@jmv333]

Ahh perfect, a zombie video just in time for Valentine's day :)

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

What's better than a zombie apocalypse to assure you that it's okay to stay by yourself?

[@lovevsfear147]

Honestly It was the discussion board title that drew me in to this video and some bigger questions I have after watching it are

[@illesizs]

Strange, how the past two years made a random virus more interesting than zombies.

[@ytbasketball101]

This is so fun you could keep at adding variables to make it more accurate.

[@TranquilSeaOfMath]

For further studies, check out the books: [1] Colin Adams, Zombies & calculus, Princeton University Press, 2014. [2] Jennifer Ouellette, The calculus diaries, Penguin Books, 2010.

[@stanstocker8858]

This is one of the most glorious numberphile videos of all time! I've been befuddled, amused, and enlightened over the years, but this one is just pure pleasure.

[@ThomasWoolley]

Thank you. I’m honoured you enjoyed the content.

[@Menaceblue3]

Is that the Kaneda's bike from *"AKIRA"?*

[@XuekunMVs]

Made me smile :)

[@jameshart4867]

Wish you would dive deeper into what the diffusion equation is.

[@mjcat5000]

The only Zombies I won't run away from is Michael Jackson dancing Thriller with his Zombie Dancers. 😸

[@givrally]

That's cool and all but I've got a simpler equation : My heart rate = dirac(t). Infinite at t=0 during my inevitable heart attack, and 0 for any t>0.

[@dmsanct]

this sort of reads out like a movie about a mathematician who is the sole survivor of a zombie apocalypse

[@RJ3040]

Love the zombie riding Kaneda’s bike

[@nowymail]

The best obstacles are other humans, preferably fat, preferably with broken legs. Zombies don't wander randomly. They follow the living, and sound.

[@Feindsenda]

not surprised the guy has an escape ladder in his office!

[@mikedoe1737]

I thought this was going to be nonsense but it was very engaging and enjoyable! 👍

[@kaijinzens]

Some Random Person Doing Math's When Zombie Apocalypse Occurs

[@joshuakahky6891]

*Commence flashbacks to my chemical engineering education*

[@tiagomrns]

the panic when he says DISCLAMER diclamer disclamer hahaha

[@SlycerZ]

I think the rest of the comments will back me up, but this has got to be the most quotable numberphile video yet.

[@ZetaFuzzMachine]

9:00 I've always liked them! Once in college I was so bored that I came up with a method of finding perfect numbers that actually works! It was invented two centuries ago but hey, I found out by myself!

[@jamesmosher6912]

Any chance of a follow up video with the solution(s) to those coupled partial differential equations? Can they be solved analytically or only numerically?

[@robertmcknightmusic]

The only math I need to know for the zombie apocalypse is can I run faster than you?

[@JUK3MASTER]

I actually had to analyse this paper and implement a solution that simulates given events in order to find lowest possible transmission rate for which all humans die. It was lot's of fun

[@toxicara]

Mathematicians vs Zombies... The next big motion picture!

[@isavenewspapers8890]

My first thought was “haha nice riff on the Plants vs. Zombies movie” but there is no Plants vs. Zombies movie

[@Meph648]

"We need to be more deadly than the zombies are infectious" ['MERICA NOISES INTENSIFY]

[@GalaxyExplorer-bv6ze]

Wait, what kind of zombie would kill a human rather than biting it?

[@danielyuan9862]

An evolutionarily unfavored one.

[@EeroSoralahti]

Equation needs to be adjusted for incapacitation due to exposure to external hazards: humans are more effective to feeding/hydrating themselves and staying warm etc.

[@rtpoe]

That comes into play only in the long term. Over the course of one day or so, they are insignificant compared to the other factors.

[@m_art_ucci]

Here's the paradox (and I know you maths enthusiasts love some paradox): The person with the most knowledge to help you survive, is the person who you know knows that the best thing for you to do is to not seek his help.

[@CaseyHancocki3luefire]

You should do a video about the "preferred numbers" like the e12 and e24 series

[@SenhorAlien]

Great video. Could've accounted for human x human interactions ending... negatively, too.

[@landsgevaer]

Or positive...

[@SenhorAlien]

@@landsgevaer true, true. I didn't consider how a group of humans might be more efficient at eliminating zombies, or just staying alive in general.

[@dustinmorrison6315]

Humans with COVID don't move randomly in all directions. They host Christmas parties without telling the guests they had all the symptoms 10 days ago.

[@whiterabbit2786]

ooh, pause the video a minute. I gotta go grab a beer for this one.

[@Tributent]

The end is so nice

[@mathewmunro3770]

It's way more complex than that. Some humans will have a vastly greater chance of survival than others when they meet a zombie.

[@Krishnarjunjamesbond]

I woke up, saw this video and it just made my day... 😁

[@Callofdootie]

Finally after years of waiting, zombie maths.

[@Spyro5500]

This was fun and interesting to watch :)

[@ChonGeeSan]

This is wrong in so many different ways, I won't even start.

[@1.4142]

I would hesitate to be with him in a zombie apocalypse.

[@kwcy92]

Too late, you've been eliminated from the formula.

[@psyboyo]

That was a very cold ending, the worst in all these years.

[@smurfyday]

There's also an assumption that you can run further away. What if you are actually running into another group of zombies?

[@elevown]

So where did that zombie get Kaneda's bike from lol?

[@IrishEye]

If I met Zombie Brady I'd be conflicted.