This year's Biology of Genomes conference is in full swing at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Approximately 550 people have gathered to hear talks discussing the genetics of complex traits, cancer genomes, and more — as well as to mingle at the campus bar. During one session, Cornell University's Adam Siepel described a way to tease out demographic and ancestral information from a comparison of personal genomes. From his team's examination of these genomes, they conclude that African and Eurasians diverged about 50,000 years ago, which Siepel said is consistent with other data.