AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Yes, I was referring to


This implies they are cold blooded. Cold blooded animals are inactive during the night, since they need direct heat from the sun for many metabolical processes.

We're not just looking for cold environments, we're looking for cold and wet. Deserts can get pretty fucking cold but a zombie would last much longer because there's no moisture to induce/speed decay.

I live in the Mojave Desert and let me tell you there is definitely moisture in the air here during winter.

Things decay just fine here, enough so that when corpses are found I keep reading in the paper that they are unrecognizable.

I thought the entire point of being called a desert is that there is very little water?

Fun fact, but not really related to the humidity discussion:

More people drown in the Sahara desert than those who die of dehydration. That's because when it rains, it always floods.



Warm and wet is what you should be going for, cold inhibits decay.

Sounds like I'm safe here in Florida.

Basically, every outer influence that strains our bodies would devastate a zombie. They are undead and not regenerating their cells anymore. As you said, heat would make them decay, freezing temperatures would destroy their cells or make them become icicles because undead -> no blood flow and all that. High air moisture might lead to mold growing and destroying their bodies maybe? Dry air would dehydrate them to the point where their bodies break apart because they don't drink. Of course that doesn't necessarily apply to the Infected variety of zombies. Man, zombies are actually not that scary besides the zombifying and their masses if you think how fragile they actually would be.

Eh, that depends on your interpretation really. Their weakness to decay is pretty widely spread, but you could argue that the decay needs to be very far progressed before it starts hindering the zombie. Some might also say that they're more resistant to freezing temperatures, if you would assume they are warm blooded, which imo makes more sense considering their habit of attacking during the night, and if they, like their super human strength, are able to maintain their temperature to a much higher extent. Couple that with their endurance and I think they might last a while under freezing temperatures, as long as you don't go to extremes.

Further thinking about it, it depends on the amount of destruction a zombie can take while still being functional. If they can keep going, even when there's almost nothing left but bones, you're still going to need to finish them off yourself.

Zombies attack whenever they can, but the media just shows the nighttime bits because darkness automatically makes things five times scarier.

True, but they still do attack during the night, which leaves the rest of my point just as valid.

okay. i was just on l4d wiki and i found something interesting.

the infected there are not dead, simply mutated humans with zombie like qualities. this allows them to,

a)draw in oxygen keeping the brain and virus alive for a suspended amount of time.
b)eat and have a digestive track that gives them energy

and yet they are zombie like in that they attack humans and are drone like.
this is an interesting theory that makes the whole zombie idea much more realistic.

what do you guys think?

Well then they're not zombies and deserve no further discussion.

What constitutes a zombie really makes no difference.
If an "infected" individual has zombie like qualities, but can simply breathe and digest flesh what's the point of not classifying them as zombies?
Same daisies thing, therefore valid for discussion.

Because zombie is supposed to be a synonym for "undead" which is not the case if they're alive. Like the 28 [...] Later series.

If such an incident were to occur, where the infected are technically alive, and not undead.
Would you bother to care when you have to run, look for shelter, scavenge, and survive the exact same as the "undead" scenario?
It's the same thing, no one cares about the difference, it's a legit discussion for the thread.