Thursday, October 26, 2006

Attempt to Disprove Vampires Fails


From Yahoo News, which is the perfect location for this "scientist":
Vampires a Mathematical Impossibility, Scientist Says

A researcher has come up with some simple math that sucks the life out of the vampire myth, proving that these highly popular creatures can't exist.

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.
Okay, where to begin. First, not everyone bitten by a vampire becomes a vampire. Most victims simply die of blood loss. Second, well, there is no second. The first point erases this guy's logic.

In order to create a new vampire, a victim must be made to drink the blood of the vampire who has attacked him or her -- this is to be "sired." This element is common to all the Anne Rice books, as well as the Buffyverse of Joss Whedon's creation.

So, now that Efthimiou's debunking has been debunked, be careful of things that go bump in the dark.


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