Neil deGrasse Tyson ruins the zombie apocalypse, but Half-Life zombies could happen!

[Jan]

Came across a Gif story on Tumblr from a segment Neil deGrasse Tyson did on The Daily Show. Here it is as one Gif:

To which geeks all over the world responded: "Thanks for ruining our dreams, Neil!"

But wait... what the gif stories don't tell is what Neil said in the rest of the interview. Sadly, the Daily Show doesn't let us foreign plebs stream stuff from their site, but there are a few clips on YouTube (for the moment), luckily:

Tyson does not rule out a "xenobiological lifeform capable of reanimating and then feeding upon the organs of the living."

Which he then proceeds to sum up nicely...

"SPACE ZOMBIES!"

Which means, ladies and gentlemen, that Neil deGrasse Tyson has officially recognised that Half-Life zombies (caused by headcrabs), necromorphs, and Reavers might be possible.

 

[Tsar]

Half life zombies are more of a parasite than anything else. We have that already tiny brain parasites that can make mice zombies. I think there are ones that make aints as well or some other bug.

 

[AlphaJohn]

Half life zombies are more of a parasite than anything else. We have that already tiny brain parasites that can make mice zombies. I think there are ones that make aints as well or some other bug.

You forgot the most common one, Toxoplasma gondii found in your everyday house cat. It makes mice, and birds less afraid of cats, some infected even seek out cats to be eaten so that the "parasite" can reproduce, hell it might be the reason why you love cats (if you do)

Then there is Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Spinochordodes tellinii, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis and Sacculina carcini to name a few.

 

[Jan]

Half life zombies are more of a parasite than anything else.

Yeah I guess they don't necessarily reanimate dead tissue, but as far as I know, you can't remove the head crab without killing the host. So if you get headhumped, you're a kind-of cross between being possessed and being a zombie.

I guess it depends on how specific we want to get with the definition of "zombie". Bottom-line: the Half-Life Wiki calls people infected by headcrabs, zombies .

You forgot the most common one, Toxoplasma gondii found in your everyday house cat. It makes mice, and birds less afraid of cats, some infected even seek out cats to be eaten so that the "parasite" can reproduce, hell it might be the reason why you love cats (if you do)

Then there is Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Spinochordodes tellinii, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis and Sacculina carcini to name a few.

Yikes.

Here's a handy list of 12 mind-control parasites from IO9: http://io9.com/12-real-parasites-that-control-the-lives-of-their-hosts-461313366

And a really cool TED talk on the topic that asks the chilling question, "How responsible are we really for all our decisions?": https://www.ted.com/talks/ed_yong_suicidal_wasps_zombie_roaches_and_other_ta les_of_parasites

And for fun, National Geographic showing in gruesome detail what happens when a mind-control wasp infects a caterpillar with its parasite...