This is an incredible series. The problem is that now I hold all of Brian K. Vaughn’s work to this standard.
Hurricane Sandy has at last blown past New York City, and my Internet connection is up and running again. Igor, my pet hamster, has taken a break from racing on the back-up generator and I’ve just pulled a bag of nearly-burnt popcorn out of the microwave. Ah, the small thrills of electricity.
A game in which you’re the plague, and your job is to wipe out humanity. Seriously. As you spread through communities, nations and continents, you gather “DNA” points that make you stronger against human countermeasures.
Scary stuff.
In the Sierras, plague and hantavirus are both serious problems right now. Who knew the end came from chipmunks’ fleas?
This is how the zombie apocalypse starts…
And this is why you can’t use news headlines to determine if you’re living in the End Times. For the news, it’s always the End Times. That’s why they’re called “deadlines.”
quicheisinsane
End Times fashion.crystalfyre:
Apocalypse in a Jar! Carry around the end of days where ever you go. Liven up a party? It can do that! “Cure” for the dead? Gotcha’ covered! Look awesome? Check.
What you do is up to you, so make sure you’re up to the extra cardio should you unleash this. Finally; a use for all those hours spent playing video games and watching those zombie flicks. Best of luck.
Features:
“Blood” Stained label and sealed cork.
Labels are made of vinyl and laser printing for max water and fade resistance. Cork is secured with a hard resin to prevent leakage.
Cotton lined black glossy blood spattered box with it’s own warning to cushion and store when not in use.
Pendant comes with black ball chain necklace shown. Don’t keep in high humidity or get wet. Do not wear while swimming or keep in bathroom when showering.
Pendant is 1.5 inches tall
-Sadly, It’s non toxic. No Zom…Humans…Were hurt in making this product. We’ll leave that to you-
This item is only for entertainment purposes.<3 EvonEli of CrystalFyre Gaming and Graphics
$14.99 on www.CrystalFyre.com
What I mean by the Next Big One is a pandemic of some newly emerging or re-emerging infectious disease, a global health catastrophe in which millions die. The influenza epidemic of 1918-19 was a big one, killing about 50 million people worldwide. The Hong Kong flu of 1968-69 was biggish, causing at least a million deaths. AIDS has killed some 30 million and counting. Scientists who study this subject — virologists, molecular geneticists, epidemiologists, disease ecologists — stress its complexity but tend to agree on a few points.
Yes, there probably will be a Next Big One, they say. It will most likely be caused by a virus, not by a bacterium or some other kind of bug. More specifically, we should expect an RNA virus (specifically, one that bears its genome as a single molecular strand), as distinct from a DNA virus (carrying its info on the reliable double helix, less prone to mutation, therefore less variable and adaptable). Finally, this RNA virus will almost certainly be zoonotic — a pathogen that emerges from some nonhuman animal to infect, and spread among, human beings.
— “Anticipating the next pandemic” by David Quammen, in the New York Times, 24 September 2012.Diseases that just won’t quit
File this one under “possible real apocalyptic scenarios,” please: a piece from Discovery magazine about a number of incredibly nasty diseases, including super-gonorrhea, that are rebounding or otherwise making comebacks from near eradication thanks to things like drug-resistant strains and climate change.
Where Have All the People Gone? (1974) was a made-for-TV movie from the heyday of such things, starring Peter Graves as the paterfamilias of a clan that (mostly) survives a strange, sunspot-related plague that makes all the people disappear. It also does some weird things to all the dogs.
Due to a weird glitch in the copyrighting process, a number of these made-for-TV movies are available to watch in full on YouTube and other sites, which is kinda nice for those of us who get nostalgic. I’ll post links to some of the others; it was a great opportunity to watch sci-fi movies on a regular basis, often with top-notch TV stars of the day.
Y: The Last Man is one of my ultimate apocalypse novels. This fan film is also awesome.
It’s actually a science post about an influenza virus, but I freakin’lovedthe headline.
