# Zombie Virus Apocalypse

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-virus-apocalypse/980904>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 9, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-virus-apocalypse/980904 "2023-03-09T03:56:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-virus-apocalypse/980904/1 "2023-03-09T03:56:50Z")

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Welp, it’s been nice knowing you, but I’m pretty sure we’re all fucked. Scientists have revived 50,000 year old viruses preserved in permafrost. I’ve seen this movie and know how it ends. They were so busy asking if they could that they never stopped to consider whether they should.

In all seriousness, this is pretty amazing research.

> **[Scientists have revived a 'zombie' virus that spent 48,500 years frozen in...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/world/permafrost-virus-risk-climate-scn/index.html)**
>
> Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are thawing the region's permafrost — a frozen layer of soil beneath the ground — and potentially stirring viruses that, after lying dormant for tens of thousands of years, could endanger animal and human health.

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**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-virus-apocalypse/980904/2 "2023-03-09T13:15:49Z")

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As long as the viruses themselves are zombies and don’t _ **cause** _ zombies. Wasn’t clear from the title!

It does sound like a MOTW X-Files episode. Specifically the one in which loggers were cutting down old growth trees and released some microscopic bugs trapped in the bark that started killing people.

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-virus-apocalypse/980904/3 "2023-03-10T14:39:34Z")

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I was more scared when they decided to bring the Spanish Flu back to life. According to Science

> The resurrected virus apparently hasn’t lost any of its kick. It killed mice in 3 to 5 days and caused severe lung inflammation reminiscent of that reported by doctors who examined 1918 flu victims, Tumpey, Taubenberger, Palese, and others report 7 October in Science. The virus also killed chicken embryos, unlike most human flu viruses.