About this episode
The episode explores the world's largest census in India and delves into population science, genetics, and species extinction.
This month, India began the immense undertaking of surveying its population of 1.4 billion people in the world’s largest ever census. Inspired by this huge task, the Unexpected Elements team explores some population science. First, counting – or miscounting – populations. The global human population may be much larger than previously thought as research shows counts may have missed those living in more remote areas. And we learn about the species stuck in a neverending “species limbo”, where they’ve gone unseen for decades but still can’t officially be declared extinct. Next, we’re joined by geneticist Dr Ambroise Wonkam, one of the researchers behind the Three Million African Genomes project, who tells us why sequencing more African genomes is the key to unlocking a wealth of vital genetics knowledge. Also, Mumbai’s out of tune musical road, how we know volcanoes are extinct, and the weight of the internet. All that, plus many more unexpected elements. Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Candice Bailey. Producers: Lucy Davies, with Ella Hubber, Imy Harper and Georgia Christie.
People in this episode
Hosts: Caroline Steel, Chhavi Sachdev, Candice Bailey
Guest: Dr Ambroise Wonkam
Topics covered
- population science
- census
- genetics
- species extinction
- remote populations
- volcanoes
- internet weight
Keywords
- census
- population
- genetics
- species limbo
- African genomes
- volcanoes
- Mumbai
- internet
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Three Million African Genomes
Places: India, Mumbai
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