The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus is seen in an undated transmission electron micrograph from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [via Reuters]

The National Institutes of Health has lifted a moratorium on scientists mucking around with dangerous infectious disease. Government run review panels will protect us. What could go wrong?

The New York Times article shares a number of not exactly concern-reducing quotes from scientists interviewed about this "small step forward." Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, reassures us with statements like: "If someone finds a way to make the Ebola virus more dangerous, I don’t believe that should be available to anybody off the street who could use it for nefarious purposes," and "Physicists long ago learned to distinguish between what can be publicly available and what’s classified." Great.

The value of this research to people who don't want to kill millions is made to seem negligible, in the article, as well.

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Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox band teamed up with Wayne Brady (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) to bring us this 1930s jazz style cover of Michael Jackson's 1983 hit "Thriller," complete with zombie tap dancers.

The band is currently on a worldwide tour.

For nostalgia's sake, here's the music video for the original:

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Just look at that headline! It's a nounpunk antideepstate beanie short of pure condensed random Boing Boing. But the prototype PassivDom “autonomous 3D-printed mobile house” is a €200,000 effort at creating a completely self-powered dwelling fit for the "zombie apocalypse."

The first model, the ModulOne, includes solar panels that power the climate control system, a clean water system that takes moisture from the air, and air quality control system that includes includes carbon dioxide control. The frame is made of 3D-printed carbon fiber, fiberglass, and resists and the entire house is recyclable.

There are three models, from ultra-simple to full autonomous. The Autonomous house is 36 square meters and costs €59,900 to pre-order. There is already a model in Ukraine and they have a few thousand folks already on the waitlist for the houses. Luckily the team doesn’t take itself too seriously. They also offer a special “Zombie apocalypse” package that includes armored glazing, an alarm system, extra toilet paper storage, and a bible.

While the whole thing could be a pie-in-the-sky fantasy it seems that they have a real model built already and all of the technology is feasible. I, for one, look forward to spending my time in a zombie-proof passive house in the middle of the taiga.

I would rather not have to see the zombies. The name abbreviates "Passive Domicile," but PassivDom is brilliant; one supposes the innuendo may not be clear to its Ukrainian creators. No-one tell them! Read the rest

Ukrainian concept artist Roman Chaliy created these cool mashups of zombies, skeletons, reanimated corpses and wild west outlaws. Read the rest

Zombies, Run! co-creator Adrian Hon writes, "That's right, we turned our running app and audio adventure into a board game! It's a frantic, fun, real-time audio-driven sprint across a zombie-infested landscape for 2-4 players, who must rescue survivors, uncover secrets, and (hopefully!) find a cure." Read the rest

Dan Taylor sez, "Prepare for the TRUMPOCALYPSE! When there is no more room in HELL, the dead will TRUMP the Earth. An all-new comic book from the creative team that brought you HERO HAPPY HOUR. If you think the idea of Donald Trump as President of the United States is scary, wait until you get a look at him as a zombie overlord amassing an army of undead to rule the world." Read the rest

Fantasy author Charlie "Oversight/Paradox" Fletcher says, "I wrote this as a Christmas story for my friends and family in 2010, seven years after the Iraq War began, eighteen months after the Chilcot Inquiry into it was announced. Six years further on Chilcot has finally reported. Because of that, and prompted by last week’s incredibly moving WW1/Battle of the Somme living memorial in the UK , it seems like a good time to share it again."

Jake Bible's Z-Burbia series has come a long way from its start in the suburbs of Whispering Pines. Sisters of the Apocalypse is the seventh installment, and focuses on Elsbeth, his ass-kicking female protagonist, and her lethal sisters.

Z-burbia started out as the story of a small gated community, just trying to get by in the zombie apocalypse. Terrible, and often hilarious things happen, in this slapstick horror. The community has destroyed the presumptive new government of the United States, survived cannibal hoards, and made their way to a new refuge in Colorado. This seventh novel in Bible's series focuses on Elsbeth Stanford, the daughter of one of the richest women in America before the zombies, and the rest of her very odd private school class.

Elsbeth is one of the most interesting characters in this series. She is tough, slightly brain damaged from a fall, and fiercely loyal. Bible has certainly found a way to keep this series pumping along.

Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse via Amazon

Previously on Boing Boing:

Z Burbia, a novel by Jake Bible Read the rest

I haven't read T.W. Piperbrook's Contamination post-apocalyptic zombie series but it has 4.1/5 stars with 744 customer reviews on Amazon. Right now you can get the first 4 books as the Kindle editions for free. Read the rest

It's the pop-up book zombie fans have been clamoring for as they shambled through the countryside, acting as proxies for mass free-floating anxiety about the other. Read the rest

The first novel in Jake Bible's series Z Burbia hooked me. What appeared to be a jokey take on zombie fiction quickly develops some great characters and story.

Jason "Long Pork" Stanford and his family live in a small community outside Asheville, NC. They've used the local geography and their HOA to secure the housing complex and have spent several years keeping things together. Their insular policies and strict adherence to the CC&Rs of Whispering Pines, their home, have kept them alive in the face of bandits, cannibals and of course hordes of zombies. Sadly, things are about to fall apart.

I've enjoyed the characters, Bible has an ability to write little about folks, while not having them be cartoons. The plot, once you get past the condo association stuff, is rather standard Zombie fare, but I'm very much looking forward to the rest of his series. I got the first and second books via Kindle Unlimited.

Z-Burbia by Jake Bible via Amazon Read the rest

They're sold out, but sculptor Turkey Merck is planning another limited run in February. They're $220 each, one of a kind, made to order, and not dishwasher or microwave safe. (via Crazy Abalone)

Update: Turkey Merck writes, "FYI...the updated versions of the mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe." Read the rest

See more sample pages from this book at Wink.

A delightfully funny and punny read, The Art of Eating through the Zombie Apocalypse: A Cookbook & Culinary Survival Guide isn’t merely humor, it actually provides sound advice for the survivalist. The book begins with “entry level preparedness” and runs through the gamut of various apocalyptic survival scenarios, providing illustrated information, advice and recommendations for further reading in every section.

This book is one part apocalypse prepper, one part outdoor survival guide and one part apocalypse cookbook. No reason not to eat well, even in a zombie apocalypse, right? Humor is found in the flowing narrative that is sprinkled with puns, amusingly titled recipes as well as bloodstains and spatters that decorate the introduction of major sections of the book. The pages are a textured grey-green to simulate age and mold.

Humor aside, sandwiched between recipes with titles such as Going Ginko Nuts, Dead Easy Peas and Who’s Got Your Back Tuna Mac, are instructions on diverse projects including making SIPS (Self-Watering Planters) out of soda bottles or storage bins, and practical advice on various how-tos such as drying, curing, smoking, and brining.

– Carolyn Koh

The Art of Eating through the Zombie Apocolypse: A Cookbook and Culinary Survival Guide

by Lauren Wilson and Kristian Bauthus

Smart Pop

2014, 320 pages, 6 x 8.2 x 1 inches (paperback)

$15 Buy a copy on Amazon

Read the rest

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

A delightfully funny and punny read, The Art of Eating through the Zombie Apocalypse: A Cookbook & Culinary Survival Guide isn’t merely humor, it actually provides sound advice for the survivalist. The book begins with “entry level preparedness” and runs through the gamut of various apocalyptic survival scenarios to the long haul, providing illustrated information, advice and recommendations for further reading in every section.

This book is one part apocalypse prepper, one part outdoor survival guide and one part apocalypse cookbook. No reason not to eat well, even in a zombie apocalypse, right? Humor is found in the flowing narrative that is sprinkled with puns, amusingly titled recipes as well as “blood” stains and spatters that decorate the introduction of major sections of the book. The pages are a textured grey-green to simulate age and mold.

Humor aside, sandwiched between recipes with titles such as Going Ginko Nuts, Dead Easy Peas and Who’s Got Your Back Tuna Mac, are instructions on diverse projects including making SIPS (Self-Watering Planters) out of soda bottles or storage bins, and practical advice on various how-tos such as Drying, Curing, Smoking and Brining.

– Carolyn Koh

The Art of Eating through the Zombie Apocolypse: A Cookbook and Culinary Survival Guide

by Lauren Wilson and Kristian Bauthus

Smart Pop

2014, 320 pages, 6 x 8.2 x 1 inches (paperback)

$15 Buy a copy on Amazon Read the rest

Illustrator Doogie Horner has a new book out called Some Very Interesting Cats Perhaps You Weren’t Aware Of. He says its a c"ollection of illustrated short stories about 100 impossible cat characters. Like the Alien cat, Xort, who reports back to his planet: 'Have trained my humans to feed and pet me. They suspect nothing.' Or the Mountain Climber cat, Snowball, who is planning a perilous route up the North Curtain to Mt. Bookcase. Or Mystico, the Magician cat—no one could figure out how he sawed a dog in half. (The answer was simple: He didn’t like dogs.)"

Doogie asked me if I'd like him to draw some special cats for Boing Boing, and I told him I'd like some cats as Walking Dead characters. And he drew them! Can you tell who the cats represent?

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For the last two years, Jasen Dixon of Sycamore Township, Ohio has displayed a front yard nativity scene with zombified versions of Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the three magi. The city has demanded that Dixon remove the scene from his yard, because it says the "accessory structure" violates the zoning code.

From Local 12:

Dixon's not buying it. "I think it's the theme. It just rubs people the wrong way and it puts the spotlight on me.

"That's why they're coming down so hard on me," Dixon said. Dixon could be fined $500 per day. He believes his zombies should stay for the holidays. "It's not hurting anything and it's here not even for a month," Dixon said. He is considering an appeal. He has yet to receive a fine but said he hasn't decided what he will do if he does.

[via] Read the rest

How long would you survive in a zombie apocalypse? Residents of the United Kingdom can find out using this location-based survival calculator. Read the rest