Sunday, May 29, 2005
The Few, The Busy, The Settlers.
A recent story on livescience.com (click here) claims that DNA studies have shown the Americas were settled over 10,000 years ago by only 70 people. Estimates of pre-Columbian populations in the Americas vary widely from a low of 500,000 to a high of 54 million (click here) and are almost impossible to verify.
Whatever the number may have been what can't be disputed is that the Americas were home to a wide range of human societies and civilizations that stretched from the farthest north to the farthest south when Columbus first landed here. And if the DNA study is correct, it all started with just 70 people.
The lesson for space colonization is the power of reproduction over time means it won't take many people to successfully settle another planet so long as they are able to keep busy doing what comes naturally.
-tdr
Whatever the number may have been what can't be disputed is that the Americas were home to a wide range of human societies and civilizations that stretched from the farthest north to the farthest south when Columbus first landed here. And if the DNA study is correct, it all started with just 70 people.
The lesson for space colonization is the power of reproduction over time means it won't take many people to successfully settle another planet so long as they are able to keep busy doing what comes naturally.
-tdr
