Scientists Discover the Safest Place to Hide from the Zombie Apocalypse

There are places you don't want to be in the zombie apocalypse, and then there are places that are safe--somewhat. Scientists have found that if a zombie outbreak were to strike U.S. shores, you may want to head west.

Cornell University researchers have modeled the statistical mechanics of zombies, and plan to present their findings at a meeting of the American Physical Society on March 5. They used a number of techniques used to model real diseases to test what would happen during a zombie outbreak, and found that while major cities would suffer, less populated areas could be unaffected for weeks, according to Newser.

"Given the dynamics of the disease, once the zombies invade more sparsely populated areas, the whole outbreak slows down-there are fewer humans to bite, so you start creating zombies at a slower rate," said Alex Alemi, a graduate student at Cornell University, in an interview with Phys.org. "I'd love to see a fictional account where most of New York City falls in a day, but upstate New York has a month or so to prepare."

So what happens if a zombie apocalypse occurs? Besides grabbing your zombie killing gear and supplies (you have those, right?), you'll want to head to the northern Rocky Mountains-assuming you manage to survive initial outbreaks in large cities, which are doomed.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).