Question: do real zombies exist

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  1. By zombies, do you mean human beings who’ve died and been brought back to life in some way? Then, as far as we know, no. In fact, the Centres for Disease Control in the United States recently stated that, despite news reports to the contrary, there is no known virus or other condition that would reanimate a human being and make it into a zombie. I’ve also argued in another question that it’s very unlikely that a virus would ever create anything like this sort of zombie, whether in humans or animals.

    A broader definition of zombie, though, as ‘being controlled against your will’ means that there are some examples of this in the animal kingdom. For example, there’s a fungus known as Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis) which infects carpenter ants and takes over their body. It makes the ants climb up a plant and secure itself there by biting firmly into the stem, after which it kills the ant. Then, after a growth process, the fungus sprouts from the ant’s body and sends spores out in search of more ants.

    Another example is jewel wasps, which sting cockroaches twice. The first time paralyzes the roach, and the second sting is into a specific section of their brain, essentially giving them control of the roach. The wasp then leads the roach back to its burrow by pulling on the roach’s antenna like you might lead your pet dog on a leash; the wasp then lays eggs in the roach, which hatch inside it and use the roach as food (the rest of this story is kind of gross, and I’ll let you find the details on your own šŸ™‚ ).

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