Questions tagged [population]
For questions on population sizes, maximums and minimums, how they are affected by different events, etc.
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122 views
What are the logistics of wiping out the current world to the point a “new” generation of humans would not be able to find it? [closed]
Backstory
I have a race of biologically advanced aliens that develop by fighting, adapting, and growing immune to the current highest standards of technology a species has to offer. By doing this they'...
2
votes
5answers
317 views
What farming practices would allow the Earth to support a population as high as 200 billion
Welcome to the year 2170, the predictions of our grandparents were so wrong: The human population didn't cap at 20 billion, it went far past that. The global population is now roughly 200 billion.
...
23
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6answers
5k views
Would “lab meat” be able to feed a much larger global population
I read a prediction that if the global fertility rate stayed at the same rate as it was in 1995 by 2150 the population would be 256 billion people. That sounds crazy, but for my sci-fi I'm rolling ...
7
votes
1answer
229 views
What is the maximum size of a tribe living off of one whale per year?
A small village of ice miners has popped up in the Northern Territory. They are a mix of southern workers who integrated with the native tribes. The group subsists on the meat of a single humpback ...
6
votes
2answers
122 views
How can I determine the largest possible population that a ring world can comfortably support?
The gods have given up on the habital planet scheme and have decided to design this universe differently. They have filled it with a space structure called a banks orbital. These habitats are purpose-...
5
votes
1answer
54 views
Could an isolated cutoff valley sustain a diversity of animals alongside humans?
My world has an isolated valley between high mountains like the Himalayas that is practically cut off from the world by high elevation mountains and steep cliffs. The valley is about five miles in ...
24
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6answers
3k views
How many people need to be born every 8 years to sustain population?
So I'm doing some worldbuilding for a small, isolated village on the coast. The winters are harsh, but making sure everybody has enough food generally isn't an issue because they have good trade with ...
6
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6answers
1k views
Humanity loses the vast majority of its technology, information, and population in the year 2122. How long does it take to rebuild itself? [closed]
The year is 2122. An AI created in the year 2115 with complete, unfettered access to control of the entirety of Earth's electronic equipment has caused a mass extinction event of humanity after ...
5
votes
2answers
201 views
What's the minimum time that it would take for an advanced species to create an ecumenopolis?
In figuring out the rough timeline for my sci-fi, I've run into an interesting dilemma. As it stands right now, There are about 90 years in between one of my civilizations discovering space travel and ...
2
votes
5answers
568 views
Death from old age has stopped, but fertility window is the same. What is the new population equlibrium?
I'm imagining a near-future world where a process can be undergone that will halt all future aging of the body, but the approach causes infertility. Those undergoing it will not have (biological) ...
2
votes
3answers
232 views
What kind of extinction event could solve Global Warming?
The world I'm creating will be referred to as E.
Current E population is growing exponentially, and the population will become completely unsustainable soon.
Global Warming is also increasing ...
12
votes
4answers
2k views
Calculating City Size based on Population
Question: I'm trying to determine how large (geographically) my city will have to be to accommodate for 1 million people.
I have a city that was basically formed by the gods to be fertile land with a ...
171
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19answers
30k views
Russian Dolls - How do they reproduce?
Warning picture showing dissected Russian Doll
My theory
I believe that Russian Dolls reproduce asexually. They are born pregnant. At the time of birth, the outer doll dies. What is now the outer ...
28
votes
25answers
9k views
Elf-like race: What could prevent overpopulation?
For an elf-like race whose people do not age beyond physical maturity (the accumulated DNA damage associated with aging does not occur), what would prevent overpopulation?
This elf-like race is ...
1
vote
1answer
139 views
Counteracting Perverse Incentive effects in 1902 Hanoi rat population
A perverse incentive is a reward system that has the opposite effect to the one intended.
In Hanoi, under French colonial rule, a program paying people a bounty
for each rat tail handed in was ...
8
votes
6answers
382 views
How can a planet full of zombies reproduce and maintain its population?
How can we have a world that is inhabited only by zombies and yet continues to be populated?
For the purposes of this question, I envisage the type of zombie that has been infected by a virus, is ...
3
votes
3answers
213 views
Reasonable maximum iron age/medieval population for small rural area
Question
From around 400 BCE to 1000 CE, what could what would a reasonable greatest achievable population be – under the best of all circumstances – in a rural area of about $\mathrm{900 km^2}$ (In ...
31
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10answers
8k views
In theory, could all mammals be wiped out by a single pathogen?
Pathogen
Note: For the purpose of this question I define a pathogen to include viruses and/or bacteria. Edit: I don't exclude other biological agents such as fungi that might have the same effect.
...
2
votes
2answers
129 views
Cycle of Reincarnation - Bypassing the wait
Lets say for arguments sake, that a world, with maximum population of 5 billion, the common Joe gets reincarnated a few hundred times since the creation of humankind. This type of reincarnation is ...
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15answers
3k views
What could cause a baby boom across the western world?
Right now the trend in the western world is declining or stagnant birthrates, but in my sci-fi universe I wanted to have a period of rapid population growth (around the 2050s).
What factors could ...
4
votes
4answers
422 views
How to mitigate high infant mortality rates in a space colony
Judging by the majority of answers from this question: What would be a logical reason to explain space based families having more children than an earth based one the spacers are going to have lots of ...
32
votes
31answers
8k views
What would be a logical reason to explain space based families having more children than an earth based one
In my yet to be named sci-fi universe humanity has begun to expand into space and has established large scale space stations near Earth and on places like Eros and Luna. I wanted the stereotypical "...
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votes
4answers
325 views
How fast would a post-apocalyptic population grow?
Let us assume a soft apocalypse eliminating >99% of world population without any effect on infrastructures. The 1% is irregularly spread over the world.
All the drugs, weapons, resources and modern ...
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3answers
96 views
Operation: Seedship [closed]
The year is some time in the future on another planet. The planet is getting overpopulated. The world leaders have convinced the people that there is no overpopulation. But they are very much ...
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votes
5answers
247 views
How can I keep the number of demigods limited, but stable?
In this world, there is a group of demigods that functions as a religious organization. This organization operates worldwide and defends the realm from threats of a demonic parallel realm. There are ...
3
votes
1answer
178 views
How long would it take to revive an extinct race of people via cloning?
So there's this planet that, several decades earlier, suffered a massive famine and drought that made habitation impossible. Everyone still alive on this planet died, except for 2 escapees, both of ...
4
votes
1answer
142 views
How to determine reasonable population density of a three-dimensional volume
I'm attempting to rough-estimate potential population density of three-dimensional megastructures in space. Assume a filled spherical volume (i.e. death star, not Dyson sphere), where all internal ...
12
votes
3answers
582 views
How do I calculate the number of people who have ever lived in a place over a given span of time assuming a fixed population?
500 years ago, the mountain dwelling Carac clan was cursed with undeath: whenever they or any of their descendants die, their corpses rise as undead creatures, or if burned, as shadowy specters. The ...
6
votes
3answers
213 views
How would an isolated world grow its population, then keep it stable?
The scenario
In the scenario that I'm imagining, a small group of people (ideally 100 or less) travel to a parallel universe and begin a new society. The new planet that they land on has one land ...
0
votes
2answers
182 views
Reproduction is limited by mutation [closed]
In the year 2020, a cosmic event caused large-scale mutation in humans. Every woman could reproduce only once in her lifetime.
Two hundred years later, what would be the population and composition ...
-4
votes
1answer
82 views
World with 2 billion people [closed]
How much would fertility rate need to drop for the world to stabilise at 2 billion people in 200 years time?
Would the world with this amount of people be vastly more peaceful and prosperous?
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votes
3answers
333 views
Every second person is gay now! How would that affect earth's population? [closed]
The villain of my (comedic) story is basically a gay Thanos, turning half of earth's population gay with a simple finger snap. Just like regular Thanos, he is concerned with the dwindling resources vs ...
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votes
5answers
267 views
What would happen if all female humans on earth died? [closed]
Say if all the female humans were infected by a disease and all of them die, as this disease affects only female.
Even if some male gives birth to a female child, it will die as environment on Earth ...
5
votes
3answers
415 views
How many people need to disappear before authorities take notice of the trend? [duplicate]
Due to sensible points made in the comments, I have reworded and clarifed my question.
I am trying to setup a world where due to reasons (mystical or alien) people have been going missing with no ...
0
votes
1answer
270 views
Every murderer and rapist in the world vanished without a trace. How many people is that? [closed]
In a worldwide catastrophe, every single murderer and rapist just vanished from the world at the same time. Nothing left behind, either dust, clothes, or whatever they were carrying at the moment.
...
166
votes
23answers
37k views
If everyone in the world disappeared except 35 random people, how long would it take for one of them to realize they're not alone?
Everyone suddenly disappears from earth except 35 people randomly scattered wherever they were before everyone disappeared. How long would it take on average for 2 or more people to meet? What other ...
3
votes
1answer
193 views
Largest Population for Ancient World Migration/Encampment
What is a reasonable range of number of people that could participate in a cohesive and centrally organized migration/encampment?
Assumptions:
Ancient times, desert terrain. People include adults ...
-1
votes
5answers
427 views
What would be the human population 200 years after 8 slaves escape?
Okay so in my setting, long story short, it starts off with a group of humans escaping an alien fleet they were enslaved by and conscripted into, and they find an earth-like planet that's smaller than ...
-2
votes
2answers
195 views
Can a city go from a population of 5000 people to 50000 in a 600-year period?
I have a few cities in my story that have anywhere from 30000 people to 70000 people. Is it possible that these cities have blossomed to such a number in a span of 600 to 700 years? I am going to give ...
3
votes
3answers
406 views
How many troops would be needed to occupy a city with a population of 2.9 million? [closed]
I have a city that has a population of 2.9 million and an urban footprint around 2,037 square kilometres. For reasons unknown, it's been sealed off from the outside world by a shadowy military ...
1
vote
4answers
266 views
Where in Australasia can a 4.3 million strong armed force be discreetly stationed?
I have a paramilitary organisation with a 4,320,000-strong standing army stationed in Australasia supported by a sophisticated air force and a bigarse fleet. This force is commanded by two Major ...
2
votes
1answer
219 views
Generation ship population growth
I have taken several things into account when it comes to population growth. First off, it is likely that on a generation ship it would be 100% natural conception so I need to take into consideration ...
17
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13answers
4k views
Is a population of people with eternal youth sustainable?
Alright so in my sci-fi setting, my space faring human civilisation has a widespread procedure that allows humans a very extended time period without any sort aging or its assorted issues (weakening ...
2
votes
3answers
255 views
Generation ship: How big exactly?
So first off I will assume that the generation ship has a reasonable capacity of 1 billion and 45,000 people are the first generation on it. Also assuming an 8/1000 per year death rate(the average ...
0
votes
1answer
103 views
How might lions and orcs engage in warfare with one another? [closed]
There are two populations of beings in a world akin to prehistoric subsaharan Africa: lions and orcs. The orcs have essentially the same intelligence and physical capabilities as humans, but they are ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views
Agricultural population reality check
I am designing a fictional world (no magic, real-world technologies). I have an unexplained anomaly in my world: There is a natural "bold spot" in the jungle (in the thousands of square kilometers), ...
0
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5answers
243 views
Human Sacrifices and Population Growth
Does there exist a percentage of a population that can be safely sacrificed or otherwise "disappeared" and still maintain a steady population growth?
For example. Could a village of 1000 people (500 ...
2
votes
0answers
52 views
How many people would it take to colonize Mars? [duplicate]
To ensure a self-sufficient colony, there would need to be enough people to ensure a diverse gene pool, a wide variety of technical experience, and enough bodies to work farms and such. How many ...
4
votes
1answer
198 views
With access to near-future technology, what is the largest amount of healthy children a mother could give birth to in her lifetime?
Essentially for my story my Evil Empire needs a constant and huge amount of new population to conscript for their armies. The way they accomplish this is by forcing every female member of society (...
15
votes
20answers
4k views
How to make people spread over the earth?
I created human beings and placed them on a planet full of landmasses, oceans, rivers, forests, desserts, swaps, snow, mountains, hills, animals, insects, plants, fish you name it. But I have a ...
