Fermi Paradox: Pathogenic Zombie Apocalypses

Kane & Selsis (2014) proposed a modified Drake equation, originally intended as a “necro-biological” solution for the Fermi Paradox, involving pathogenic zombie apocalypses, signified by a measurable increase in greenhouse gas emissions (particularly CO2, H2S, NH4, and CH4) due to the rotting of zombified sophonts and their domesticated animals. While the report itself was in fact a practical joke (there are no real life mechanisms for a zombie apocalypse), it did call to attention serious observations concerning the detection of decompositional biological activity on habitable planets. The mountain of research concerning global biomass decay could have huge ramifications for the detection of life elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. The first major aspect of this approach concerns the underappreciated biodiversity of detrivorous bacteria. Most …show more content…
Conventional analyses using this method estimate that Earth’s biosphere weighs about 560 billion tonnes C, with an annual productivity of 104.9 billion tonnes C/yr almost evenly split between terrestrial and marine environments, despite the oceans containing only 1.34% of all complex biomass. This total biomass is approximately 1/100,000,000 of the Earth’s solid mass (M⊕ = 5.97219 × 1021 tonnes) and 1/10,000 of the atmospheric mass (MA = 5.97 × 1015 tonnes) (Field et al., 1998; Groombridge & Jenkins, 2002; Gielen et al., 2003; Moreira, 2006; Djomo et al., 2010; Erb et al., 2009). Plant biomass, called lignocellulosic phytomass in fuel energy studies, contributes to these figures more than animal biomass. Based on chlorophyll levels from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the most biologically productive regions with autotrophic plants are