io9: Population

Are there really more people alive now than have ever lived?

Alasdair Wilkins — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PST

There's a popular claim that the seven billion people alive today outnumber all other humans who have ever lived. It's meant as a stark reminder of humanity's population explosion over the last 200 years...but is it true, or total crap? More »

What does a world of 7 billion people look like?

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:30:00 PDT

Today saw the world's human population pass 7 billion for the first time ever — it's a huge landmark that's almost impossible for our limited brains to encompass. Luckily, National Geographic has been doing a year-long series about the growing population, and they've gathered some of their most arresting images, video and statistics into a free iPad app. More »

What was the world's population when you were born?

Robert T. Gonzalez — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:20:00 PDT

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The Guardian is currently featuring a great interactive applet that pumps out population metrics (including the total number of Earth's human residents) for the year you were born. More »

The human genome contains a million years worth of population data

Alasdair Wilkins — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:48:08 PDT

Our genes don't just help determine who we are — they also preserve an incredibly ancient record of who our ancestors were. Our genomes can actually reveal human population sizes dating all the way back to before humans even existed. More »

Alligators use cannibalism as the ultimate population control

Alasdair Wilkins — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:20:00 PDT

If you're a baby alligator, there's about a 1 in 16 chance that your elders will eat you. It's nothing personal...it's just the simplest way for these gators to deal with a temporary food shortage and keep their population stable. More »

How to stop the water wars of 2050

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:51:19 PDT

Urban population growth is skyrocketing. The majority of people on Earth live in cities, and most of the water they drink has to be shipped in. Scientists say that by 2050, many cities will have seasonal water shortages. More »

Can humanity survive a population of over 10 billion people?

Alasdair Wilkins — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 13:20:05 PST

By the end of this year, the human population is expected to reach seven billion people, just twelve years after we hit the six billion milestone. But how much more crowded is our planet going to get? Will we keep on expanding indefinitely, or are we approaching the upper limit? The current consensus is that we'll reach our maximum population by around 2050 and then start to slowly decline...but that might be based on two critically flawed assumptions. More »

Why the coming decade marks a new stage in human evolution

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:00:00 PST

On New Year's Day, the giant population bump known as the baby boom started turning 65. By the decade's end, more humans will be over 65 than under 5. Homo sapiens is entering uncharted territory. What will happen? More »

Humanity will need two Earths to sustain itself in just twenty years

Alasdair Wilkins — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:41:44 PDT

At humanity's present rate of consumption, by 2030 we'll need the resources of two Earths just to survive long-term. There are really two options: start building another Earth, or drastically change our lifestyles. Which one is supposed to be easier? More »

Population Surge Leads to Micro-Apartments

Scott Timberg — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:34:14 PST

We've seen it in science-fiction books and movies before — the urban dystopia where living space has shrunk to almost nothing to house a teeming humanity. Now it seems to be here... or at least scheduled for 2011. More »

India Will Be Most Populous Country in the World in 2025

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:30:00 PST

What will the global population look like in 15 years? The US Census Bureau released a study yesterday that suggests China's vast population will peak in 6 years, and India's population will surpass its size within 15 years. More »

Is Human Evolution Over?

Lauren Davis — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:00:00 PDT

What will the future of humanity look like? We know it probably won’t turn us into a being of pure energy, and it won’t necessarily find us more intelligent or prescient. In fact, according to a leading genetics researcher, humans of the future won’t look much different from the humans of today, as modern life has brought our evolution to a standstill. More »

Documentary Fetishism in Battlestar Galactica

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:34:47 PDT

TV watchers tuning into the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica tonight have more accurate information about humans killed in the show's space battles than they do about civilian deaths in Iraq. This fetish for numerical exactness is part of what makes the show so realistic and appealing to non-scifi fans — but it's also what makes fans so freakishly devoted. Because you can track every single death. And we've done that for you here, in a chart revealing the strangely detailed information Battlestar offers about its fictional population of spacers fighting robots. More »