How many people have ever existed?

CrowdScience listener Lisa, who is from South Africa but now lives in the UK, has been a vegetarian for many years. Sometimes though, she still finds herself craving meats – like spaghetti bolognese or a burger. To satisfy these cravings, she eats ‘alt-meats’, products meant to l ...  Show more

Your heart pounds, your chest tightens, your stomach drops and your legs feel weak and shaky. Your palms are sweating and a tingling rush spreads through your arms and fingertips as your brain is overwhelmed with feelings of tension and fear. And yet, you’ve asked for this. You w ...  Show more

Right now, at this very moment, all across the planet, there are 7.6 billion human beings eating, breathing, sleeping, brushing their teeth, walking their dogs, drinking coffee, walking down the street or running onto the subway or hopping in their car, maybe reading a summary ...

What has most recently became known in some circles as "Thanos Theory", many people have wondered, especially in times of serious concerns about climate change and the scarcity of resources just how long this planet can support us...especially as the world's population is about t ...  Show more

At eight billion people, humanity has reached a major demographic milestone. Yet with a growing population, questions arise over whether nations can keep up. While developed Western countries struggle to take care of aging populations and low birth rates, many developing count ...

As India is poised to overtake China as the world's most populous country, we put questions from World Service listeners to the author of 8 Billion and Counting. Dr Jennifer Sciubba explains how the number of humans is growing in some countries, declining in others, how people ar ...  Show more