Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:While most estimates place the current human population at around 8.2 billion, a study suggests we might be vastly underrepresenting rural areas. By analyzing 300 rural dam projects across 35 countries, researchers from Aalto University in Finland found discrepancies among these independent population counts and other population data gathered between 1975 and 2010. Homo sapiens is the most successful mammalian species in Earth history, and it’s not even close. Well, with a background in water resource management, Láng-Ritter looked at a different kind of population data gathered from rural dam projects—300 such projects across 35 countries, to be precise. Unlike global population datasets, such local impact statements provide comprehensive, on-the-ground population counts that are not skewed by administrative boundaries.