What is the minimum amount of people needed on generational ship to eventually one day start a human civilization on another world?
Generational ship question
- Thread starter Kenbushway
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I thought you were moving to Macedonia! This is even BIGGER.
I might volunteer. Send a prospectus.
I might volunteer. Send a prospectus.
More than one I guess.
And yet. The Bible.
This question is melting my brain. Please, give me some context before I explode and die.
According to the article, it is a median minimum viable number of 4169 individuals. Interesting.
Wow, that's a lot.
Strangely precise number
Ohhh ... I thought this thread was going to be about TOS Kirk/Spock v. Abrams Kirk/Spock ....
A median figure is always going to be a precise number.
^^ Yeah, it would probably be a good idea to round up, in case of attrition.
I assume fertility will be tested prior to launch.
There are some island populations that were founded by far fewer than 50,000 or even 4169 people though most of them had a some additional genetic matter added over the years.
edited to add - an example is the population of Tristan Da Cunha is around 260 people who are descended from just 15 people (8 men and seven women). There are only 8 surnames on the island. It seems that the health problems that a result of such a small founder group is a high incident of glaucoma and a high percentage of people who are asthmatic (three of the original settlers were asthmatic. I therefore think that a new planet might be able to be founded from only a few hundred people (around 500 maybe?) so long as they were screened for genetic problems before leaving.
edited to add - an example is the population of Tristan Da Cunha is around 260 people who are descended from just 15 people (8 men and seven women). There are only 8 surnames on the island. It seems that the health problems that a result of such a small founder group is a high incident of glaucoma and a high percentage of people who are asthmatic (three of the original settlers were asthmatic. I therefore think that a new planet might be able to be founded from only a few hundred people (around 500 maybe?) so long as they were screened for genetic problems before leaving.
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You can probably go with a much smaller group if the people are already genetically very diverse. Usually what you have is a bunch of people who are pretty much already loosely related, as opposed to a melting pot.
For example, by selecting your population from such diverse backgrounds as professional female beach volleyball players, Victoria's Secret underwear models, Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, and models from The Gap, Neiman Marcus, and Fredricks of Hollywood, along with a bunch of regular beer swilling goobers for them to mate with, you should have a viable genetic population to work with.
For example, by selecting your population from such diverse backgrounds as professional female beach volleyball players, Victoria's Secret underwear models, Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, and models from The Gap, Neiman Marcus, and Fredricks of Hollywood, along with a bunch of regular beer swilling goobers for them to mate with, you should have a viable genetic population to work with.
The men who founded Tristan da Cunha were from five different nationalities - Scotish, English, Dutch, American and Italian. If I remember correctly the two Italians settled on the island after being shipwrecked there, this was about two generations after the original settlers. They had no problems finding wives because several of the men had been drowned the year before in a boating accident and therefore the Italians were able to marry a couple of the widows.
Most, if not all, of the founding women were from South Africa, and they were black.
Edited to add - the boat capsized in 1885 and 15 men drowned, leaving only 4 adult men alive on the island. No wonder the Italians were encouraged to stay.
Most, if not all, of the founding women were from South Africa, and they were black.
Edited to add - the boat capsized in 1885 and 15 men drowned, leaving only 4 adult men alive on the island. No wonder the Italians were encouraged to stay.
I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there.
I would also recommend a ratio of, say, ten females to each male. Of course, that would necessitate the abandonment of the so called monogamous sexual relationship, as far as men were concerned. But it is a sacrifice required for the future of the human race!
I once calculated that with sufficient genetic diversity at the start, sustained fertility, and throwing out standard human mores on coupling, you could repopulate the species with a minimum of 40 people - 8 males, 32 females - breeding and crossbreeding as rapidly as pregnancy cycles and child maturation would allow. (More would be preferable, as this was my minimum under ideal circumstances.)
Of course, I was 12 or 13 at the time, so there may have been some missing factors in my calculations.
Of course, I was 12 or 13 at the time, so there may have been some missing factors in my calculations.
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