Who would have thought that as recently as 70 000 years ago, extremes of climate had reduced our population to such small numbers that we were on the very edge of extinction 
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Australian singer Kylie Minogue smiles as she poses for photographers with the OBE she received from Britain's Prince Charles for her services to music at Buckingham Palace in London July 3, 2008.
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Serena (L) and Venus Williams of the U.S. talk to each other during their quarter-finals doubles match against Bethanie Mattek of the U.S. and Sania Mirza of India at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London July 2, 2008.
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Acrobats perform during the presentation of A400M military aircraft in Seville, southern Spain June 26, 2008. Europe unveiled the A400M military aircraft on Thursday, giving the public a first glimpse of a powerful turboprop plane built to supply seven NATO countries with urgently needed strategic airlift capacity.
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A group of people look at the sun, standing on the rocky crest filled with astronomical markers at the megalithic observatory of Kokino, soon after sunrise on June 21, 2008, on the day of the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 80 km northeast of Skopje, dates more than 4.000 years back in time. It is ranked by NASA as the fourth ancient observatory in the world.
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People listen to Jason Kay, of the British band Jamiroquai, during the Rock in Rio music festival in Arganda del Rey, on the outskirts of Madrid, Friday, July 4, 2008.
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Jamie Adjetey-Nelson competes in the pole vault at the Track and Field Canadian Trials in Windsor, Ontario, July 4, 2008.
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WATKINS GLEN, NY - JULY 04: Helio Castroneves drives the #3 Team Penske Dallara Honda during practice for the IRL IndyCar Series Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen on July 4, 2008 at the Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.
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KIDLINGTON, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 27: Sir Richard Branson (C) attends a photocall to launch Virgin Media's new television channel Virgin 1, at his home in Kidlington on September 27, 2007 in Oxfordshire, England.
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LONDON - FEBRUARY 08: Dita Von-Teese is seen at the launch of Virgin Media at Convent Garden Market on February 8, 2007 in London, England. Branson will spend the day in a perspex box being visited by celebrities and with only virgin media to entertain him. At its launch today Virgin Media will become the largest Virgin branded company in the world as well as a new force in British media, entertainment and communications. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dita Von-Teese
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LONDON - FEBRUARY 08: Dita Von-Teese launches Virgin Media at Convent Garden Market on February 8, 2007 in London, England. Branson will spend the day in a perspex box being visited by celebrities and with only virgin media to entertain him. At its launch today Virgin Media will become the largest Virgin branded company in the world as well as a new force in British media, entertainment and communications. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dita Von-Teese
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LONDON - FEBRUARY 08: Richard Branson and Dita Von-Teese launches Virgin Media at Convent Garden Market on February 8, 2007 in London, England. Branson will spend the day in a perspex box being visited by celebrities and with only virgin media to entertain him. At its launch today Virgin Media will become the largest Virgin branded company in the world as well as a new force in British media, entertainment and communications. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dita Von-Teese;Richard Branson
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Mankind's Close Call With Extinction / Quotes
We see strong evidence of ancient population splits beginning as early as 150,000 years ago, probably giving rise to separate populations localized to Eastern and Southern Africa. It was only around 40,000 years ago that they became part of a single pan-African population, reunited after as much as 100,000 years apart.
was said
in YubaNet
The analysis of such a massive dataset presents statistical and computational challenges as well as great opportunities for discovery of the events that shaped our history and genetic landscape. For example, we can see evidence of a population expansion period starting around 70,000 years ago, perhaps leading to the out of Africa dispersal shortly afterward.
was said
in YubaNet
We don't know how long it takes for hominids to fission off into separate species, but clearly they were separated for a very long time
said Spencer Wells
in New Kerala
They came back together again during the Late Stone Age - driven by population expansion
was said
in New Kerala
It is possible the harsh environment and changing climate made populations migrate to other places in order to have a better chance of survival
said Doron Behar
in New Kerala
