Real Men Drink Beer; Zombies Don't

Surviving in the land of the living dead can ride on a hair-trigger. In the middle of a massed zombie attack, you need to have memorised a number of instant cues for distinguishing between zombies and real people. Beer-drinking is one of the most important such distinctions.

How to Make Beer

In the aftermath of the great zombie apocalypse, very few commercial beer-makers will be around to sell their product. Sure, there is a record number of breweries operating in the US at this time. But after the zombies sweep through the landscape, those numbers will drop in a fateful manner.

Brewers can somehow sense the coming end of the world as they know it, and they are preparing a special brew to mark the occasion. And none too soon. Think of it as their swan song, for just before the deluge.

Fortunately, the trend in US beermaking is toward the "nano-brewery," just barely larger in production than an enthusiastic homebrewer. With enough craft nano-brewers surviving, we can be sure that the art of fine beer-crafting is likely to survive.

Anyway, if you see someone drinking beer, you can be fairly certain they are no zombie. Best to hold off on shooting him until you can better ascertain his true intentions.

;-)

A Zombie Escape Vehicle Large Enough for Your Entire Neighborhood

This article is cross-posted from Al Fin blog

The Aeros rigid body airship zombie escape vehicle uses a novel buoyancy management system to provide the ability to carry up to 66 tons of freight or passengers, with a range of 3,000 nautical miles, and the ability to land and take off vertically from any flat surface. Cruising speed is 110 knots, with better fuel economy than other aircraft with heavy lift capability.

The company has built a half-size prototype, and is working with the US FAA on legal-technical-regulatory aspects of the craft before building a full-sized version.

If the vehicle operates to specifications, it would be an ideal method of building an "instant community" in the middle of nowhere. Such a capacity would be invaluable to militaries, as well as to survivalists, colonists, "new nation activists," and others who wished to be able to quickly install a sophisticated infrastructure in a remote location using pre-fabricated and pre-packaged materials and equipment. Example: Intershelter Popup Dome Shelters are lightweight and assume compact form for shipping.

The airship should also allow for fairly quick and massive relief and re-supply in disaster situations.

Aeroscraft

The commercial models will have a cruising speed of 110 knots over a range of 3000 nautical miles.

“It is the speed that the market and customers need,’’ he [Aeros CEO Igor Pasternak] says.

One of the keys to the new platform is its buoyancy management system. This allows the weight of the vehicle to be adjusted to suit conditions and operational needs. It is completely different from a "blimp" or something like the Hindenburg which needed a hitching post. With the Aeroscraft, there is a gas envelope above a freight chamber which reduces the buoyancy until the craft is 50 feet above the ground. Then you land it as you would a helicopter.

“The concept of the operation is absolutely new. When it comes in for a landing, say 100 feet or 50 feet and it touches the ground, at this moment you become heavier than air,’’ he says.

“From the structure stand point, all of us are familiar with the Hindenburg and Zeppelin designs, continues Pasternak. “This is different. We built a space frame that sits inside of the vehicle and around the frame we built a rigid cell. The function of the rigid cell is to have it work with the aerodynamic laws. It’s a very simple approach. _Gizmag

The video below provides a graphic animation of the Aeros buoyancy management system, which allows the craft to land and take off vertically, and to pick up and deliver up to 66 tons of cargo or passengers from most locations -- regardless of how far it is to the nearest airport.

The military applications are apt to catch on, if the craft can operate at high enough altitudes out of range of most ground fire. Remote piloting capability would also be an ideal feature for military use.

This is an airship buoyancy concept that has been thrown around at the Al Fin Aerospace Institute for a number of years, but the Institute is not likely to submit any prior claims to the idea. ;-)

Besides, when it comes to community scale zombie escape and evasion, we need to stick together for the sake of group survival.

Novel Anti-Zombie Shelter Ideal for Deserts and Polar Regions

The novel anti-zombie shelter pictured below incorporates a number of features which should help protect you and your loved ones in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Transformation House

The staircase retracts -- much like a drawbridge -- whenever zombies approach across the sand or ice. In addition, if zombies somehow make their way inside, the individual segments can rotate. This allows you to trap and isolate zombies inside particular segments. The rotating segments can also confuse zombies into thinking they are going the wrong way, causing them to reverse directions until exhauste, finally falling through special trap doors to the icy sands below.

Although not well portrayed in the image, the leg supports are capable of moving independently -- like the legs of a millipede -- propelling you and your shelter across the arid sands from oasis to oasis. The shelter is easily able to outpace a shambling zombie horde, as long as its energy packs are kept charged.

Finally, the shelter is able to safely submerge itself, hidden under sand, ice, earth, or water -- in the event of a mega-zombie outbreak.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

Swiss Survivors Huddle In Hobbit Holes to Escape Zombies

Hobbit Hole Housing

They said that Switzerland would be the last nation on Earth to fall to the zombie apocalypse. They said that because of the natural geographic boundaries that separate the Swiss from everyone else. But little by little, zombies have been seen infiltrating the mountain redoubt, causing Swiss survivalist to devise a fallback plan: Hobbit Hole housing.

The Earth Houses are so called because they're designed to reside within their environment, blending into the natural contours of the land rather than merely set down on top of it. They're also covered with clumps of earth, which makes a lot of sense in terms of insulation, though such a design will clearly not fit in with everybody's aesthetic sensibilities.

Because of the way the houses are built into the land, no one would spot the estate who wasn't actively looking for it.

The plot of land the Earth Houses are built on covers 4,000 square meters (43,055 sq ft), with each individual house covering between 60 meters squared (646 sq ft) and 200 meters squared (2,153 sq ft). There are three houses consisting of three rooms, one house of four rooms, one of five rooms, three of six rooms, and one of seven rooms. _Gizmag

The zombie-escape houses are surrounded by conventional houses, which are likely to attract zombies by their very conventionality. While their neighbors are being eaten by the horde, the survivors can hide out in relative comfort, waiting for the zombie masses to move on to more obvious targets.

Should any zombies stumble across the survivalist hidey holes by mistake, they are likely to stumble straightaway into the central pond -- where their loud thrashing about in the water will attract the attention of survivors. A quick double tap to the head should eliminate the immediate problem, and prevent the zombie's loud struggles from attracting others of its kind.

Finally, the dispatched zombie will be dried and ground into powder, to be used as zombie repellant. The repellant is liberally poured around the perimeter of the surival estate -- well away from the residences. This ring of protection is replenished after every heavy rain or snowfall.

A few additional projects -- such as a deep moat filled with zombie-eating sharks, and a 20 foot tall solid wall topped by a high voltage electrified fence -- should provide additional protection.

Escape the Zombie Horde in a Flying Home

Flying Home
When the zombie apocalypse hits, you may not have a lot of time to pack your things before making your escape. The idea of making a clean escape in a pre-packed home -- containing all your important belongings -- should appeal to every well informed zombie survivour.

Lighter than air craft allow you to put a much larger distance between yourselves and the emerging zombie horde. And you can travel that distance in unprecedented comfort and style, in the flying home designed by Swiss designer Timon Sager.

The elegantly styled home features multiple decks with several amenities any modern homeowner would want — from a sleek entertainment room to a lavish bedroom. The house also features immense windows that would make every beautiful angle visible. If you have a paralyzing fear of heights, this may not be the home for you, but then again, who could pass up the greatest benefit of traveling in the comfortable confines of one's home? Wolke 7 would also eliminate the arduous task of packing light and researching for a hotel at your destination. Instead of hectic worrying, flying-homeowners can relax and sail the skies to their favorite vacationing spot. _Source

Once you arrive at your zombie survival fortress and redoubt, you can continue to utilise your flying home as an advanced warning lookout platform.

Remember: zombies do not live with regret. If you plan far enough and well enough ahead, you will not have to live with regret or with zombies.

A Safer Escape to the Deep Ocean?

Vertical Ship Designed to Withstand Even Largest Sea Waves

The vertical ship "Sea Orbiter" is supposedly designed as a research vessel to study ocean currents and climate effects.

But we all understand that unmanned submerged and floating platforms can do just as well to gather whatever research data is necessary. Clearly the Sea Orbiter is meant as a deep ocean escape platform -- but what is it escaping?

Zombies, of course. While zombies can survive almost indefinitely underwater without needing to breathe, they do have trouble with flotation in deep water. They can walk along the seabed, but cannot easily swim along the surface. Once your ship or seastead achieves ocean depths of over 100 metres, you are relatively safe from zombies.

The Sea Orbiter was designed to be self-sufficient in terms of energy production, and could house a number of families, as designed. By scaling up the size of the vertical ship, and altering a few features, it could be turned into a self-sufficient vertical floating city for tens of thousands of people.

Sea Orbiter

A vertical ship that is highly mobile, wave resistant, and stable with 2/3 of its length submerged, offers a new paradigm for naval design of self-sufficient floating arcologies meant to stay afloat for long periods of time.

Any added anti-zombie protective measures should add only minimally to the total costs.

Silent Zombie Kill Seaplane: Fly Nano Stealth Electric

This nifty one-person seaplane has made its first test flight with a battery powered electric motor. It is so quiet that you can dive-bomb a zombie nest in broad daylight, and they'll never hear you coming. Base price is $34,000.

Wing guns and bomb mounts are extra.

Fly Nano News Blog_via_Gizmag

Flynano main website




The electric version has a relatively short range, so be sure not to let your batteries run down in the middle of a zombie attack.

Fighting Zombies with Automated Ghosts

Researchers have chosen a site near Hobbs, New Mexico, to build an automated ghost town, empty of human inhabitants. The town will function as if it were a real human town, but it will be controlled by advanced automation and communications networks. In case of a zombie apocalypse, it is hoped that zombies will be attracted to the carefully simulated town, where they can be trapped, destroyed, and properly disposed of according to government regulations.

Associated Press

A scientific ghost town in the heart of southeastern New Mexico oil and gas country will hum with the latest next-generation technology - but no people.

A $1 billion city without residents will be developed in Lea County near Hobbs, officials said Tuesday, to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets -- in an attempt to create a zombie trap, in case of a zombie apocalypse.

Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb said the unique ... empty city will be a key for protecting the nearby human community from zombies, by acting as a type of bait and trap. _AP

The plan is to conduct a controlled release of groups of 50 to 100 zombies at random locations midway between Hobbs and the automated ghost town. The zombies will be fitted with tracking devices and their locations will be monitored closely throughout each experiment. Zombies which stray too closely to the human settlement of Hobbs will be either trapped and relocated, or will be destroyed in place, depending upon the assessed threat by officials on the scene.

As groups of zombies shuffle into the automated ghost town, proximity detectors will be triggered, and reactive systems will automatically activate. The zombies will be unwittingly herded into a specially designed "zombie kill zone" area in the middle of the ghost town, where they will be reduced to atomic particles for later conversion into fuels, high value chemicals, and fertilizers. In this way it is hoped that the zombie apocalypse can be turned to the benefit of the human survivors.

The New Mexico town is considered a prototype automated zombie trap ghost community, which will facilitate advance preparation work to minimize the impact of the full scale zombie apocalypse, when it eventually occurs. We can only hope that there will be time to apply the lessons learned.

Ultimate Zombie Escape Vehicle?

When the zombie apocalypse hits, you may not have much warning to get out of town. Freeways and surface roads will be jammed to a standstill, and walking out of the city with zombies on the loose could be extremely dangerous. In such an event, you will want a method of urban exfiltration. Helicopters are generally considered the best method of fast evacuation, but a flying car or flying motorcycle ranks high on the list. The Pal-V personal flying road vehicle is an auto-gyro and a three-wheel motorcycle all in one. Here's more:

On the ground this slim, aerodynamic, 3-wheeled vehicle has the comfort of a car with the agility of a motorcycle thanks to its patented, cutting-edge, ‘tilting’ system. It can be driven to the nearest airfield and take off just like any other airplane. The single rotor and propeller are unfolded to make the PAL-V ONE ready to fly. When airborne, the PAL-V usually flies below 4,000 feet (1,200 m), the airspace available for uncontrolled Visual Flight Rules (VFR) traffic; so there will be no interference from commercial air traffic. Furthermore, the PAL-V is powered by a very robust, flight certified aircraft engine. It runs on gasoline. It can reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (112 mph) both on land and in the air. The PAL-V ONE has a very short take off and landing capability, making it possible to land practically anywhere. When not using controlled airspace, you can take off without filing a flight plan. Flying a PAL-V is like a standard gyrocopter. It is quieter than helicopters due to the slower rotation of the main rotor. It takes off and lands with low speed, cannot stall, and is very easy to control. The gyroplane technology means that it can be steered and landed safely even if the engine fails, because the rotor keeps auto rotating. _PAL-V

Escaping a Zombie-Infested San Francisco

The PAL-V One can reach speeds up to 112 mph. On the road, the PAL-V One has a range of 750 miles from its gasoline engine and in the air it has a range of up to 315 miles. It runs on gasoline like a conventional car, but there will also be versions that use biodiesel or bio-ethanol. _Inhabitat

In a world of zombies, there are very few second chances. Best to plan ahead.

Instant Zombie-Proof Dormitory, Hotel, Village

All images via Gizmag

The steel shipping container is a strong and versatile architectural starting point. Using the ubiquitous steel structures, one can build a house, a workshop, an artist's studio, an underground survival bunker, or an entire dormitory, hotel, or village.

The structures can be stacked, cantilevered, buried, bermed, or perched on a pedestal.

... British company Snoozebox has come up with yet another clever use for [shipping containers] – a modular, scalable portable hotel system made up of multiple tiered containers, that can be set up anywhere within 48 hours.

Each climate-controlled Snoozebox room features a double bed, wet room, flat screen TV, free Wi-Fi, two power outlets, a safe, and key card entry. Maid service and a continental breakfast are also provided. Currently, there are four rooms in each container, although a couple of other options should be available soon – the company plans on offering larger Luxury rooms that each occupy half a container, along with cheaper five-per-container Budget rooms. The containers themselves are standard ISO (International Organization for Standardization) size, meaning that they can be stacked and shipped anywhere by road, rail, air or water. The system includes its own infrastructure, so no electricity, water or sewage access is necessary. It can also be leveled by its installation crew, so absolutely flat terrain isn’t a requirement. _Gizmag

Such self-contained dorm/hotel/village systems could be set up anywhere in the wilderness, desert, or polar areas where power and sanitation could be provided. Above, you can see the interior layout of individual container units for the "Snoozebox" system.

Shipping containers are built of strong steel structural material, easily capable of holding off an extended and determined zombie attack, as long as sufficient food, water, sanitation, temperature control, and clean air are available.

A multi-unit installation would be suitable for remote drilling or mining crews, remote education or training centers, or for large scale refugee camps when flight from zombie-infested cities is necessary.

Russian President Putin Presses for Psychotronic Zombie Gun

Mind-bending ‘psychotronic’ guns that can effectively turn people into zombies have been given the go-ahead by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The futuristic weapons – which will attack the central nervous system of their victims – are being developed by the country’s scientists.

They could be used against Russia’s enemies and, perhaps, its own dissidents by the end of the decade. _DailyMail

Daily Mail
While there may be a need to develop weapons that will reliably kill zombies once and for all, there appears to be little need for weapons which will create zombies, as Mr. Putin apparently intends. This appears to be a case begging for the involvement of UN weapons inspectors, who have never failed an assignment yet. ;-)

Plans to introduce the super- weapons were announced quietly last week by Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov, fulfilling a little-noticed election campaign pledge by president-elect Putin.

Mr Serdyukov said: ‘The development of weaponry based on new physics principles – direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy weapons, genetic weapons, psychotronic weapons, and so on – is part of the state arms procurement programme for 2011-2020.’ _DailyMail

Russia is suffering an ongoing demographic collapse of its core population. Its military is rusting away, in desperate need of more and better recruits, and crying out for policy reform and infrastructure upgrade.

This latest ploy by Putin appears to be a desperation move in hopes of discovering some type of compensatory weapons system which will negate the technological lead enjoyed not only by western militaries, but increasingly by Chinese armed forces -- a much closer and more realistic threat to Russia.

All Zombies Now

Effective total brain control -- or zombification -- depends upon a fine enough level of control, or resolution, over the pertinent brain centers. Early methods of brain control depended upon the crude tools of pharmacology and macro-electromagnetic stimulation. But we are on the verge of a level of fine-grained brain control which puts us within reach of our goal: total world domination!

Quantum Dot Cell Controller

By harnessing quantum dots-tiny light-emitting semiconductor particles a few billionths of a meter across-researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a new and vastly more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain. Being able to switch neurons on and off and monitor how they communicate with one another is crucial...

...Doctors and researchers today commonly use electrodes- on the scalp or implanted within the brain- to deliver zaps of electricity to stimulate cells. Unfortunately, these electrodes activate huge swaths of neural territory, made up of thousands or even millions of cells, of many different types. That makes it impossible [to achieve the level of brain control to achieve complete zombification. (Ed.)]

...An alternative, says the UW team, led by electrical engineer Lih Y. Lin and biophysicist Fred Rieke, is to use quantum dots-tiny semiconductor particles, just a few billionths of a meter across, that confine electrons within three spatial dimensions. When these otherwise trapped electrons are excited by electricity, they emit light, but at very precise wavelengths, determined both by the size of the quantum dot and the material from which it is made... The experiments, says Lin, show that "it is possible to excite neurons and other cells and control their activities remotely using light. This non-invasive method can provide flexibility in probing and controlling cells at different locations while minimizing undesirable effects." _SD

In other words, complete zombification is almost within our reach.

Of course we will continue to follow the progress of cruder tools such as deep brain stimulation, transcranial dc stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. (Summary PDF review of earlier tDCS research)

And we will continue participating in the OpenEEG project, in order to perfect our remote EEG brain state viewer -- to use in conjunction with our remote quantum dot cell-level brain controllers.

Naturally, we expect our informants to keep their eyes and ears open for any news we may be able to utilise. We can make it worth your while, particularly if you have your eye on someone that you would like to zombify for your own personal use. ;-) But tell no one what you have read here!

We stand on the verge of a brave new world. A greener, cleaner, more orderly world, without all the confusion and cacophony of modern global capitalism, freedom of religion, rule of law, and free markets. Either you are with us, or you are a zombie.

First published at Al Fin, the Next Level

On the Way to Printing Human Being Robot Zombies

We already have "printers" capable of printing entire houses. There is the Cornell University printer that prints 3-D flying insect robots. A Drexel University paleontologist is building dinosaur robots out of printed 3-D dinosaur bones.

An elderly woman was a recent surgical recipient of a 3-D printed replacement jawbone. And we are not that far away from printing 3-D replacement tissues and organs using tissue printers.

San Diego startup Organovo is printing muscle tissue with a 3-D printer, aiming to create working muscle.

Unlike some experimental approaches that have used ink-jet printers to deposit cells, Organovo's technology enables cells to interact with each other much the way they do in the body. They are packed tightly together and incubated, prompting them to adhere to each other and trade chemical signals. When they're printed, the cells are kept bunched together in a paste that helps them grow, migrate, and align themselves properly. ­Muscle cells, for example, orient themselves in the same direction to create tissue that can contract.

So far, Organovo has made only small pieces of tissue, but its ultimate goal is to use its 3-D printer to make complete organs for transplants. Because the organs would be printed from a patient's own cells, there would be less danger of rejection. _Technology Review

Organovo will first print human tissues of various types to be used in pharmacological research, to replace animal models and other cruder forms of testing new drugs. They will use the income from sales of these tissue models to drug companies, in order to fund their replacement organ printing research.

But do you see where all of this is leading? First you print the bones, for assembling the skeleton. Then you print the muscles, to allow movement. The organs and blood vessels are then printed and assembled together. The only thing left to add is the brain -- the robotic zombie controller.

While cognitive scientists are almost able to create a zombie brain, they are still decades away from creating a realistic human brain. You should not be discouraged by this, since as long as we remove the cannibalistic instincts of our printed zombies, and train them to be docile and obedient, they can be used for many constructive purposes.

Consider the advantages of being able to use the car-pooling lane in your daily commutes. Or just imagine the surprised looks on your friends' faces when you show up at a part in the company of 2 or 3 zombies who look and are dressed exactly like you!

Just think of the many uses to which trial lawyers could put these zombies in class action lawsuits! Imagine the sympathy they could induce in naive jurors who didn't know any better. Why, one might even be elected president of the USA! It would not be unprecedented.

Anyway, give it some thought. We may not be that far away from such a brave new world, and you want to be prepared.

New Adventures in Zombie-Proofed Homes: The Oil Silo

The Oil Silo Home, designed by pinkcloud.dk in Berlin, recycles oil silos by transforming them into affordable [zombie-proof -- ed.] houses!

An oil silo is a storage container for compressed liquefied petroleum gas. There are approximately 49,000 oil silos in over 660 oil refineries worldwide! As the [zombie - ed.] population increases at an exponential rate, oil discovery decreases at an exponential rate. Soon all existing oil silos will be [needed for zombie-proof housing -- ed.].

The Oil Silo Home is a 100% self-supporting housing solution for the [zombie infested - ed.] world. It’s highly structurally stable, waterproof, efficient to assemble and disassemble, and has the capacity for prefabrication and mass production. __Pinkcloud.dk

The oil silo home is supported above ground by strong steel pillars. It is acessible by a stairway which can be retracted in case of zombie sightings.

This cutaway view reveals internal space options. One can also see the rooftop defensive position, which allows household snipers optimal views of the surrounding free-fire zones.

Depending upon the climate zone, a variety of modular external sheathings are available, in a wide array of bullet-proofing and fire resistance. While zombies are not able to use firearms or sophisticated weaponry, untransformed humans certainly can. Zombies may be the greatest concern for survival, but human rivalries will still remain, occasionally turning violent.

This image demonstrates one possible means of re-constructing an oil silo into a relatively zombie-proofed house (click for full size). It is recommended that homeowners allow Al Fin zombie-proofers to customise the final residence, for optimal safety.

Oil silos can be converted into multiple unit housing, for extended families and for cooperative, non-family alliances. It is recommended that the most expendable and least trustworthy members of the group be housed in the lower-most unit.

Oil silos can be converted in such a way as to allow optimal natural lighting, as pictured above. Likewise, they can be converted for hilltop placement with partial or complete earth coverage -- for both disguise and weather protection in severe climate locations.

In the age of zombies, the need for secure shelter has never been more acute. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Elevating Japanese Villages to Safeguard from Zombie Attack

Japan suffered a massive devastation from recent earthquakes and tsunamis. These natural disasters highlight some of the dangers of living at ground level. Even worse than these disasters, however, is the threat of zombie attack -- which can occur far from shorelines.

Tōhoku Sky Village is not just an architect's flight of fancy: one municipality in the affected region is making moves towards building one in its locality and others could follow.

Most islands will be used for residential purposes, with between 100 and 500 houses and apartments. Fuel stations, waste disposal and storage facilities, and car parks are on lower floors. Commercial islands, meanwhile, will house factories and processing facilities for industries such as fisheries and agriculture. As well as lifting residents high above the destructive power of [zombies - ed.], the design comes with a number of safety features. A reinforced gate at the back of each island automatically closes after a [zombie] warning, while steps up the sides let people climb to safety. _New Scientist

The best power source for these fortress villages would be off-grid small modular reactors, in deep underground vaults, reinforced by concrete and re-bar.

Each three-storey island would offer 90,000 square metres of usable space and be bolted deep into the bedrock via vast steel pillars. The exterior walls are made of 50-centimetre-thick reinforced concrete, while utility spaces on the bottom floor are compartmentalised in a radial formation for even stress distribution - rather like the spokes in a bicycle wheel. _NS

High voltage conductors will be used to line the steep, high outer walls of the anti-zombie fortresses, capable of frying any zombie invaders to a deep black crisp. When zombies are crisped in this manner, other zombies lose their natural aversion to eating them. Oddly enough, when zombies consume other zombies as a zombie crisp, they tend to sleep for hours or days on end, allowing for safe & easy dispatch and disposal by special squads of villagers known as zlayer zquads.

Emerging Idiocracy on Planet Earth: Engage Anti-Zombie Precautions

Decades of genetics research have shown...that people are born with different hereditary potentials for intelligence and that these genetic endowments are responsible for much of the variation in mental ability among individuals. Last spring an international team of scientists headed by Robert Plomin of the Institute of Psychiatry in London announced the discovery of the first gene linked to intelligence. Of course, genes have their effects only in interaction with environments, partly by enhancing an individual's exposure or sensitivity to formative experiences. Differences in general intelligence, whether measured as IQ or, more accurately, as g are both genetic and environmental in origin--just as are all other psychological traits and attitudes studied so far, including personality, vocational interests and societal attitudes. This is old news among the experts. The experts have, however, been startled by more recent discoveries.

One is that the heritability of IQ rises with age--that is to say, the extent to which genetics accounts for differences in IQ among individuals increases as people get older. Studies comparing identical and fraternal twins, published in the past decade by a group led by Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., of the University of Minnesota and other scholars, show that about 40 percent of IQ differences among preschoolers stems from genetic differences but that heritability rises to 60 percent by adolescence and to 80 percent by late adulthood. With age, differences among individuals in their developed intelligence come to mirror more closely their genetic differences. It appears that the effects of environment on intelligence fade rather than grow with time. In hindsight, perhaps this should have come as no surprise. Young children have the circumstances of their lives imposed on them by parents, schools and other agents of society, but as people get older they become more independent and tend to seek out the life niches that are most congenial to their genetic proclivities.

A second big surprise for intelligence experts was the discovery that environments shared by siblings have little to do with IQ. Many people still mistakenly believe that social, psychological and economic differences among families create lasting and marked differences in IQ. Behavioral geneticists refer to such environmental effects as "shared" because they are common to siblings who grow up together. Research has shown that although shared environments do have a modest influence on IQ in childhood, their effects dissipate by adolescence. The IQs of adopted children, for example, lose all resemblance to those of their adoptive family members and become more like the IQs of the biological parents they have never known. Such findings suggest that siblings either do not share influential aspects of the rearing environment or do not experience them in the same way. Much behavioral genetics research currently focuses on the still mysterious processes by which environments make members of a household less alike. _Linda Gottfredson

The general finding after over 100 years of studying intelligence and genetics, is that IQ is heritable over the lifetime to between 50% and 80%. Heritability of IQ tends to be lower in low socioeconomic groups and in very young children. As a person ages, the genes tend to influence intelligence more.

The table below is a guessing game, where you are to fill in the "country" which matches the continent and the IQ score. The table of national IQs below, should assist you in this task. Notice that African nations are not included in the game, since the national IQ scores in the game do not go below 92.

Continent/Region Country Average IQ Asia 108 Asia 106 Asia 105 Europe 102 Europe 101 Asia 101 Europe 101 Europe 100 Asia 100 Europe 100 Europe 100 Europe 100 Europe 100 Europe 99 North America 99 Europe 99 Europe 99 Europe 99 Oceania 99 Europe 99 Europe 99 Europe 98 Oceania 98 Europe 98 Europe 98

Continent/Region Country Average IQ Europe 98 Europe 98 Europe 98 Europe 98 North America 98 Europe 97 Europe 97 Europe 97 Europe 97 Europe 96 Europe 96 Europe 96 South America 96 Middle East 95 Europe 95 Middle East 94 Middle East 94 Asia 94 Europe 94 Asia 94 South America 93 Europe 93 Europe 92 Europe 92 Asia 92

Name the Country

A more complete table of national IQ scores from Lynn and Vanhanen summarized by Steve Sailer

This graphic displays a simplified bell curve distribution overlap for 4 generalised human population groupings.

This graphic provides a general idea as to realistic occupational expectations for individuals whose valid IQ scores fall within a particular range of values.

FourmilabThis simplified time projection from the Fourmilab website: Global IQ 1950-2050, looks at the change in average "global IQ" over time, due to differential birthrates among distinct breeding groups, possessing different IQ.

Total fertility rates by country (via the EvoandProud anthropology site). By comparing the TFRs and national IQs, one can estimate the general trend for global IQ, as a falsifiable hypothesis.

What about the "Flynn Effect?" Unfortunately, the multiple and poorly defined underlying mechanisms behind the "Flynn Effect" are not strong enough to overcome the compounding magic of differential birthrates combined with heritability of IQ.

This graphic allows you to visually compare homicide rates with both total fertility rates and national IQ. Keeping in mind the heritability of IQ, this triple juxtaposition allows for some simple falsifiable predictions as to the future of both particular nations, and of the nations which are emigration targets for the excess from low IQ, high crime, high fertility populations.

Hope for the best. Plan for the worst.

More: Here is an extremely optimistic look at the future of commodities, energy resources, and food. The human ingenuity of "the smart fraction" has been pushing back against the forces of depletion -- just as Julian Simon said they would do.

It is crucial to look at as many sides to the story as one can. Nothing in real life is as simple as it seems.

Previously published on Al Fin blog

Persons of low IQ have a tendency to commit crimes of both violent and non-violent nature, and to become dependent upon the public purse. As the numbers of low IQ persons grow, the quality of elected officials will tend to decline sharply (the Idiocracy). As more and more cities of the first world come to resemble Detroit, Port-au-Prince, and Ciudad Juarez, the violence and poverty will drive more intelligent persons into gated enclaves and other more protected areas.

Eventually, shadow governments will emerge, with alternative law enforcement and defense forces, and alternative economies. Civil wars are inevitable, if only as a means of last resort self-preservation.

Choose your location and your neighbors wisely, and always have an escape plan prepared. Escaping a zombie horde is similar in many ways to escaping an Idiocracy. Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

Live Out the Zombie Apocalypse in Remote Survival Pod

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This unique mountain survival retreat is made by the Leap Factory, and was placed in the French Alps by helicopter. It is almost impossible for zombies to access this retreat, and any who survive to reach your altitude can be easily dispatched by a dull axe or rusty sword.

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LEAPfactory’s Gervasutti refuge represents the pinnacle of the Italian firm’s achievement. LEAP refers to Living, Ecological, Alpine Pods, their speciality, and their latest pod is also one of their greatest. It has 6 contact points with the ground and weighs 5,500 pounds, while the elongated shape creates nearly 100 square feet of hi-comfort interior space that sleeps up to 12 people.

Everything – from the exterior shell to the interior fittings – is modular so that when the time comes, the refuge can be relocated elsewhere. The solar panels installed on the roof produce 2.5 Kwh of solar energy – making it completely self-sufficient – and it only took two days to install. This truly is a remarkable achievement in modular design… now we just have to get there! _Inhabitat

But the whole reason for this remote survival retreat is that it is difficult to reach -- for normal humans as well as zombies.

You see, if you find yourself among a group of humans that is confronted by a hungry polar bear, you do not have to be faster than the bear -- you merely need to be faster than at least one of the humans.

The same principle applies to zombies. Choose your perch wisely.

Escaping the Zombie Zone by Air

Zombie Safe House Contest
The above entry in the "Zombie Safe House Contest" presents a way of being above it all, sustainably. The project even utilises zombies as an energy and fuel source.

In the image above, you can see a mass airborne exodus from the zombie zone, enabled by the massive 3,000 passenger nuclear mother-ship. The advantage of the nuclear mothership is its ability to stay airborne for years at a time, acting as a shuttle between zombie-safe zones. Lesser aircraft are able to land on the deck of the mothership, dropping off and picking up passengers to and from safe landing zones.

Here you see a large airship arriving at a safe zone, far from the zombie infested cities. It is ready to discharge freight and passengers, in preparation for another rescue mission to the danger zone.

Here you see a smaller escape vehicle, meant for both personal and family escape. It can also be used as a short and intermediate range scouting craft, to provide advance warning to the safe zones, in case of possible zombie incursions.

Here you see the Eurocopter flying car, currently only available to upper level EU officials, for rapid zombie escape. The EU hopes to be able to make the escape vehicle available to ordinary Europeans before it is too late.

Is Your Home Secure from Zombies, Collapse, and Natural Disaster?

Practical Tactical: Home Fortress - Episode 102

Aired: August 13, 2010
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Go behind the walls of what is considered to be one of the safest houses in the world. S.A.F.E. Founder and President, Al Corbi gives us a look at the safety measures in place in this domestic fortress. Later, join Corbi and his team... (19:00)

We have looked at homes that are fairly secure against zombie attack, and others that are secure against most natural disasters. We have also looked at ways that you can prepare for extended economic collapse, civil disorder, and loss of basic services.

But what we really want is a way to protect against all the likely and somewhat possible occurrences. Here we look at some of the state of the art technology involved in securing a home against intruders, attackers, and natural disasters.

The home featured in the video above is located in the Hollywood Hills, above Los Angeles. Los Angeles tends to erupt periodically in mass occurrences of civil disorder, so installing features such as these is a logical precaution for any homeowner in the LA area.

To make such a home even more secure, one would go underground to provide multiple secure storage areas for food etc., a secure water supply, safe backup power supplies, and escape tunnels when flying out by helicopter is not feasible.

Ideally, you would want to locate a fallback home with similar security features ina more remote location, surrounded by a wide assortment of measures which would make it difficult for a large force to approach your "fortress" in an organised and deliberate manner.

The city home described above is located inside a gated fence -- presumably with a range of anti-vehicular defences incorporated to prevent the approach of a large car bomb.

Notice that the builders incorporated a means of rapid evacuation by air, for when the excrement truly contacts the rotating blades. For your city home, you would want some type of VTOL aircraft to be on site and ready to go any time that you or your family are on site. Particularly if located in a city such as LA, Chicago, London, etc.

Home security doesn't have to cost as much as the home shown above. But it will require a good deal of thought.

The Zombie-Proofed House

All Images from All-that-is-interesting
Above you can see the zombie-proof house with all shutters fully closed. In this setting, the only access into the house is via a drawbridge, which must be lowered for entry.

Now you can see the shutters as they begin opening. Notice the large front heavy steel shutter which is electrically controlled.

Concrete shutters are now fully opened, revealing the side windows and front entrance and windows.

Here you can see the lowering of the drawbridge -- the only access to the house when all shutters are closed in full zombie-proof mode.

This is the house as it would normally be seen, with no zombies in the vicinity. Regular patrols by ground and from the air are mandatory, to assure the absence of zombies. A constant seismic surveillance is likewise necessary, to guard against the dreaded tunneling zombies.

After the sun goes down, the house would normally be fully closed in, due to the increased threat of nocturnal zombie attack. Immediately after this photograph was taken, a zombie spotting was reported two houses down, requiring an immediate shuttering-in. Eternal vigilance becomes second nature inside the zombie zone.

First published at Al Fin, the Next Level