zombies

[Brian Norman Wootton]

You don't have to do anything. Zombies are a killed processes so they
almost don't take up any resources but they still has an entry in the
process table. You can try kill the zombie but it's not sure it will
work (as it is already dead). What program do the zombies belong to?

a programme called 'air', needed to use BBC iPlayer on linux, I had
the process table on screen at the time they all suddenly vanished
of their own accord, so I'm happy. Presumably a reboot would clear 
them out too?
brian