US chemist develops scent to repel zombies

Nebraska: Holster those guns and put down those pitchforks because a chemist has come up with a surprising way that you could help you survive a zombie apocalypse.

Using a combination of three terrifyingly disgusting smells, an expert believes she can create ‘Eau De Death' that mimics the smell of rotting human flesh. While many people may prefer to stick to floral perfume and musky cologne for the time being, the chemist thinks that it could be used to dupe zombies into believing a wearer is dead - should the highly improbably night of the living dead occur.

Dr Raychelle Burks of Doane College in Nebraska says that the zombie-repellent or ‘death cologne' can be made using just three chemicals - and that a little would go a very long way. She explains the vile concoction is primarily a mixture of two ‘perfectly named' putrid chemical compounds called putrescine and cadaverine, which are emitted early on in the decaying process.

"But maybe if you want to really round off the smell of death for the cologne, we should add in methanethiol. It's got that rotten egg, boiled cabbage smell," she said in a video for the American Chemical Society. She added, "This cologne is an evasive method, which when coupled with zombie mannerisms - as seen in "The Walking Dead" or "Shaun of the Dead" - would be effective in avoiding a zombie attack when moving among a zombie horde.