UK academics modelling Zombie horde dynamics

[Doctor G]

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19926664.800-designing...

There is more to this than meets the eye. Modelling the movement of a crowd of drunkards? Modelling the movement of a horde of hungry undead more like!

[The Sentinel]

Indeed:

Simon Moore at the University of Cardiff in the UK and his colleagues wondered how the staggering gait and loss of balance associated with being drunk would affect a model based on the behaviour of sober crowds. Models have been widely used to predict how crowds will behave, for example, during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, to improve crowd control. This is the first time a model has looked at crowds of drunken people, says Moore.

Interesting that they explicitly refer to Saudi Arabia in their example. The claim that this is the first piece of research in the field is perhaps a little disingenuous - although the earlier model makes assumptions which this newer research is now able to evaluate.

[The Rumour Mill]

Noticed that Crowd Dynamics look at "probability of conflict maps" and "risk maps" as well as "evacuation planning" and "events and mass gatherings" - I guess someone out there is prepared...

[Anya]

And going one step further than just modelling, they're now using satellite images to predict outbreak patterns

[The Rumour Mill]

Researchers find dual-use sexual attraction and population-control ...
Is someone looking not just at zombie movement but also fodder movement?

[Visogoth]

This could be useful in planning escape routes from urban areas in the case of infection by zombism.