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Humans Nearly Went Extinct 1.2M Years Ago
Hugh Pickens writes "Scientific American has a story on researchers from the University of Utah who have calculated that 1.2 million years ago, at a time when our ancestors Homo erectus, H. ergaster, and archaic H. sapiens were spreading through Africa, Europe, and Asia, there were probably only about 18,500 individuals capable of breeding in all these species together (PNAS paper here). Pre-humans were an endangered species with a smaller population than today's gorillas and chimpanzees. Researchers scanned two completely sequenced modern human genomes for a type of mobile element called Alu sequences, then compared the nucleotides in these old regions with the overall diversity in the two genomes to estimate differences in effective population size, and thus genetic diversity between modern and early humans. Human geneticist Lynn Jorde says that the diminished genetic diversity one million years ago suggests human ancestors experienced a catastrophic event at that time as devastating as the Toba super-volcano in Indonesia that triggered a nuclear winter and is thought to have nearly annihilated humans 70,000 years ago."
That's nothing. I mean, the whole race started from just two people, right?
Luckily, magic underwear was discovered and humans survived the event.
Obviously this is when Adama and the fleet landed on Earth. BSG was right all along!
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
Because 1.2 million is the same as 70,000, right? You must work for Goldman Sachs.
But why should we assume a uniform rate over time, when evolutionary theory says that genetic differentiation happens in leaps and bounds?
Sources should always be cited when making this kind of argument. I'll do it for you this time:
Pr. Charles Xavier, X-Men movie introduction speech
From The Onion:
Sumerians Look On In Confusion As God Creates World
"Members of the earth's earliest known civilization, the Sumerians, looked on in shock and confusion some 6,000 years ago as God, the Lord Almighty, created Heaven and Earth.
YIR numbers web 5
According to recently excavated clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script, thousands of Sumerians--the first humans to establish systems of writing, agriculture, and government--were working on their sophisticated irrigation systems when the Father of All Creation reached down from the ether and blew the divine spirit of life into their thriving civilization.
"I do not understand," reads an ancient line of pictographs depicting the sun, the moon, water, and a Sumerian who appears to be scratching his head. "A booming voice is saying, 'Let there be light,' but there is already light. It is saying, 'Let the earth bring forth grass,' but I am already standing on grass."
-- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
You mean we survived a near extinction event and all I got was this lousy intelligence and humor?
You are welcome on my lawn.
Oh no. We better get greenpeace on that to put a stop to that nuclear nonsense.
Camping on quad since 1996.
I don't expect them to use the term 'catastrophic clamactic event' in a flowing sentence.
Quite right. Such terms should be reserved for events like the 1912 San Francisco Shellfish Riots.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
I think I heard something.
I am not sure I remember it right.
I can't be bothered to look it up.
Clearly a prime candidate for an Insightful mod.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Humans nearly went extinct during the nuclear missile crisis
In that event, I would not rule out the chance to preserve a nucleus of human specimens. It would be quite easy at the bottom of some of our deeper mine shafts. The radioactivity would never penetrate a mine some thousands of feet deep. And in a matter of weeks, sufficient improvements in dwelling space could easily be provided. Nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely. Greenhouses could maintain plant life. Animals could be bred and slaughtered. A quick survey would have to be made of all the available mine sites in the country. But I would guess that dwelling space for several hundred thousands of our people could easily be provided. With the proper breeding techniques and a ratio of say, ten females to each male, I would guess that they could then work their way back to the present gross national product within say, twenty years.
I am officially gone from
"I do not understand," reads an ancient line of pictographs depicting the sun, the moon, water, and a Sumerian who appears to be scratching his head. "A booming voice is saying, 'Let there be light,' but there is already light. It is saying, 'Let the earth bring forth grass,' but I am already standing on grass."
So... an alternate headline would be "Ancient Sumerian on grass hears voice of God".
The enemies of Democracy are
However, you are genetically diverse enough from your first cousin that there are no genetic problems, other than sharing undesirable, recessive, genetic diseases.
And of course, sharing undesirable relatives