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October 26, 2006
No fun
Why yes, you can prove lots of things with science and math. This includes disproving the idea of vampires!
University of Central Florida physics professor Costas Efthimiou's work debunks pseudoscientific ideas, such as vampires and zombies, in an attempt to enhance public literacy. Not only does the public believe in such topics, but the percentages are at dangerously high level, Efthimiou told LiveScience.
Legend has it that vampires feed on human blood and once bitten a person turns into a vampire and starts feasting on the blood of others.
Efthimiou's debunking logic: On Jan 1, 1600, the human population was 536,870,911. If the first vampire came into existence that day and bit one person a month, there would have been two vampires by Feb. 1, 1600. A month later there would have been four, and so on. In just two-and-a-half years the original human population would all have become vampires with nobody left to feed on.
Good show! Of course, this feeds on the notion that vampires bite people and those people become vampires when they are bitten. On the other hand, maybe vampires are so rare simply because there are so few people for them to bite. Maybe that is why they have to resort to silly schemes to get people to visit their castles. However, I think it is fair to say there are lots of other people who get their rocks off by drinking blood, sleeping in coffins and living in gothic castles. I am not one of these people.
Posted by oz115 at October 26, 2006 01:49 PM