We Might Be Wrong About Humanity’s Near Extinction

Today there are more than 8 billion humans on Earth. But according to a recent genetic study, there may have been a moment in our past when the entire human population dropped to just 1,280 adults. That is a number small enough for every single human alive to fit inside one large school building, or just a small section of a sports stadium. If that happened today, Homo sapiens would instantly become one of the most endangered species on Earth, yet scientists now think something very close to this may actually have happened 930,000 years ago. But is it true? New Scientist first reported on this controversial discovery back in 2023. Since then, scientists have been debating what it really means. In this video, we dig into the genetic clues that suggest humanity nearly vanished and explore what kind of catastrophe could have pushed our species to the brink. If humanity came this close to extinction once, how many other times has it happened? And what’s to stop it from happening again? Subscribe to our new podcast channel -    / @theworldtheuniverseandus   Love New Scientist? For a specially discounted New Scientist digital subscription, go to https://newscientist.com/youtube Subscribe ➤ https://bit.ly/NSYTSUBS Get more from New Scientist: Official website: https://bit.ly/NSYTHP Facebook: https://bit.ly/NSYTFB Twitter: https://bit.ly/NSYTTW Instagram: https://bit.ly/NSYTINSTA LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/NSYTLIN About New Scientist: New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/ #humanity #science #extinction #history #evolution #catastrophe