962
All downhill from there (media.piefed.social)
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 182 points 2 weeks ago

Imagine being hunted and killed by a team of power walkers.

[-] Zwiebel@feddit.org 172 points 2 weeks ago
[-] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 148 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You know, this is actually the type of fear that the zombie horror genre really reverses back on us. Classic zombies are not fast. They're not smart. They can't run, climb, or plan elaborate traps. They have no sharp claws or terrifyingly large teeth. You can outrun them at a brisk walk.

But what makes them so dangerous is that they're relentless. If they get your scent, they'll follow you and keep following you. Blow their legs off and they'll crawl towards you. Remove all their limbs and they'll slither like a snake towards you. Only destroying their brain can stop them.

If you're on foot, it is virtually impossible to escape them, as they'll just keep on coming. And while you need to sleep, they don't. They can just keep right on shuffling towards you 24/7. If on foot being chased by a zombie, your best bet is probably to find a river you can swim across that will sweep them away. Oh, and of course, they are rarely alone.

Zombies are predators that turn our species's natural hunting strategy back upon us.

[-] yngmnwntr@lemmy.ml 39 points 2 weeks ago

Similarly the Terminator is ceaseless but does run, jump, climb etc. Our own hunting strategy, but perfected by machines. Even more tireless and persistent.

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 2 weeks ago

Not really related, but it makes me sad that this isn't easily possible in Project Zomboid. It's the exact sort of feeling I want from it.

[-] otacon239@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

I’m kind of surprised considering there’s a massive mod scene. Not even with a custom difficulty mode?

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Leonixster 6 points 2 weeks ago

Could you not adjust the settings so zombies see/hear you very easily and from far away, as well as making hordes a bigger amount for the feeling of being hunted by a pack? I haven't played the recent unstable versions so idk if they added other things that zombies can do to find you, like smell or whatnot

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] LongLive@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

How many drugs does it take to outrun a scent-seeking zombie?

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 weeks ago

I thought it was the swarm that was what is so dangerous rather than being relentless. A single zombie is usually shown as weak and pretty easy to kill.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 129 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Pursuit predation/persistence hunting has to be one of the most metal characteristics about humans.

[-] saimen@feddit.org 74 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

https://ourworldindata.org/quaternary-megafauna-extinction

The timing of megafauna extinctions was not consistent across the world; instead, the timing of their demise coincided closely with the arrival of humans on each continent.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[-] LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 29 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You're missing a \.

There have been many extinction events in Earth’s history. There have been five big mass extinction events and several smaller ones.

There have now been many studies focused on the question of whether humans were a key driver of the QME. Many suggest that the answer is yes. Climatic changes might have driven an initial decline in large mammal populations — small population crashes — but human pressures are likely to have thwarted their recovery. Large mammals survived previous periods of climatic change, but the arrival of humans put pressure on already-depleted populations.

[-] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

\ is the escape character in markdown. Gotta do a double \ and then another \ for the underscore

 ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯ =

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[-] LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 8 points 2 weeks ago

(°▽°)/

I'm assuming this menu is specific to the Voyager app rather than to Lemmy itself:

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] BlushedPotatoPlayers@sopuli.xyz 18 points 2 weeks ago

What I never got about this theory is, fine, you run after the Ptadgedrwgydon for 87kms, when it gives up due to exhaustion and you kill it with a stone. What now? You're 87kms away with a carcass that weighs 500kg, how do you get back the food to the tribe?

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

This is how we learned to be nomads. Kill big thing, bring camp to big thing, hang out until big thing is all eaten.

[-] paperazzi@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

This is how Komodo Dragons hunt, too.

[-] nanoswarm9k@lemmus.org 7 points 2 weeks ago

Group hunting for mega-fauna. Partial field-processing of remains, beyond a dressing.

idk, moose hunters might still. Is there a moose hunter at the forum today..?

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[-] Geodad@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

That would be a terrifying way to die.

Wasn't that the premise of the Slenderman video game?

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Lucky_777@lemmy.world 98 points 2 weeks ago

Humans' ability to sweat is something outstanding.

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 58 points 2 weeks ago

That what I keep saying, but people still seem thoroughly unimpressed by my ability to sweat profusely the moment I get a little hot!

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 35 points 2 weeks ago

Interviewer: What would you say is your biggest strength?

Me:

[-] Donkter@lemmy.world 22 points 2 weeks ago

Sweating is such a powerful ability for humans when compared to the animal kingdom. I mean, not only does my sweat keep me cool, I can clear out an entire room with it if it's a little too hot!

[-] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Unless it’s a 100% humidity day with a heat index above what is typical

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] khannie@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago

The other advantage we have while running is that we're not constantly slamming our intestines into our other vital organs and lungs because we're upright.

Humans can out-distance a horse. A fucking HORSE. Incredible animal the oul' human.

[-] FelixCress@lemmy.world 32 points 2 weeks ago

Humans can out-distance a horse

Speak for yourself, I cannot out distance a hamster lately.

[-] khannie@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

Oh I am most definitely not speaking for myself. Neigh. Not one bit.

I think that's mostly down to our comparatively sedentary lifestyle though. Skinny AF, fit because I've had to run down a horse once a week and mid-20's me could hopefully out-distance a horse. A small cow anyway.

[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

Neigh. Not one bit.

Are you a horse?

[-] khannie@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 53 points 2 weeks ago

Persistence predation is the only way I can manage to take my cats to the vet.

[-] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 9 points 2 weeks ago

Did you try just picking them up and having a towel or blanket underneath in case they want to dig their claws into something, and hand in their shoulders in case they try to escape? That's what Ive done for years and it is so much less stressful on everyone involved.

[-] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The problem is getting a hold of them in the first place. They just bolt from one hiding place to another, and I say "hiding place" but they're not as much "hidden" as "hard to reach when you are a human-sized human". The only reason I eventually manage to catch them is that ambush predators get tired quicker than persistence predators.

load more comments (11 replies)
[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 43 points 2 weeks ago

We are the snail

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 25 points 2 weeks ago

Fun fact: the guy who first proposed this "running man" hypothesis about persistence hunting in the late 1960s (Grover Krantz) was better known as a staunch advocate for the existence of Bigfoot. Personally, I can't believe that anybody could still believe in Bigfoot - it's so obviously just a Yeti in a gorilla suit.

For some weird reason, Krantz's skeleton and that of his favorite dog are on display at the Smithsonian.

[-] jnod4@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 weeks ago

The father of modern day physics changed course and started studying alchemy, chronology, biblical interpretation, losing himself to mysticism. He'd probably research big foot if he was alive as well. That doesn't mean I'm going to dismiss his real magnum opus

[-] squaresinger@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Contrary to modern-day physics, the "persistence hunting" thing is very much not a scientific consensus. It's more of a fringe idea supported by hardly any science that somehow made it into popular science.

There's about as much credible evidence to that theory as there is to the theory that eating chocolate helps with losing weight.

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Wikipedia politely labels persistence hunting as "conjecture". It's interesting that pretty much everything important from our ancestral past (e.g. fire-making, flint-napping tools, spears, skins and furs etc.) can be and regularly is reproduced by modern people. But somehow you never see modern people jogging down deer and killing them - even with the benefits of modern footwear, portable water containers, a carbohydrate-rich diet for energy, and GPS trackers.

somehow made it into popular science

The "somehow" as far as I can tell is the David Attenborough documentary bit that supposedly shows a Khoi-San hunter doing it. Richard Lee and a team of Harvard anthropologists extensively studied the !Kung (a Khoi-San people) during the '60s and '70s and there was never a mention in any of the literature this produced about these people engaging in persistence hunting. What they did describe was the practice of hunting with poisoned spears and arrows and then tracking the wounded, poisoned animal for days until it dropped and could be butchered. Needless to say, this is not persistence hunting.

The popular anthropologist Marvin Harris also featured Krantz' work is his final book Our Kind (which is where I first heard of it), but I don't think enough people read that book for it to have been the source of the idea's current popularity.

[-] MrPoopyButthole@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Thank you chicken lady. That makes much more sense.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 23 points 2 weeks ago

isnt this a diprotodon, which is the largest marsupial in australia, in the vombatiforms.

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

For some reason I read that as vomitiform (I bet I know how they fought)

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] meme_historian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 weeks ago

Inside you there are two snails...

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
962 points (100.0% liked)

Science Memes

15917 readers
2399 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS