ST Alpha - "People keep saying things like "Your chances of dying of an asteroid impact are still better than winning the Powerball." And yet aren't the odds " (Reading a Post)

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People keep saying things like "Your chances of dying of an asteroid impact are still better than winning the Powerball." And yet aren't the odds

Posted by mara Jan 13 '16, 15:11

pretty good that somebody will win it soon (say within a month), and pretty small that an asteroid impact will kill somebody in the same period? (I know there are small asteroids all the time, but they usually burn up in the atmosphere and don't cause a death.)

Responses:

If an asteroid takes out a pool member one minute before the drawing tonight, what happens to that person's share? -- nm* - ty97 Jan 13, 15:18 7
- deleted because I am a freaking ninny sometimes. -- nm* - b. Jan 13, 15:20 4
  - b. is a cold one. -- nm - TWuG Jan 13, 15:21 3
    - nah, just as silly. (I feel the need to b.-hug ty now, though.) -- nm - b. Jan 13, 15:22 1
      - ty? helloooo? -- nm - b. Jan 13, 15:34
    - yeah. she totally cut out the widow & kids :))) -- nm - Peglegpete Jan 13, 15:22
- the meteorite & whatever it damages can sell for a small fortune -- nm - Peglegpete Jan 13, 15:19
- Star Lord gets it -- nm - Beryllium Jan 13, 15:19
"In fact, according to the National History Museum in London, there are actually no recorded human deaths by a meteorite fall." -- (link) - mara Jan 13, 15:16 9
- I'm trying to find out the longest period of time between two Powerball jackpot winners. -- nm - mara Jan 13, 15:20 5
  - But the odds have changed since they increase the numbers in the pool. Much less chance of hitting those first five now. -- nm - Meg Jan 13, 15:22 4
    - What would you say is pretty common time period between jackpot winners, though? The last one was like two months ago, I think I heard. -- nm - mara Jan 13, 15:24 3
      - I don't know common; but sometimes it's quite short - weeks vs months. - b. Jan 13, 15:32 2
        
        7/4, too; so less than a month between that and the next in that set. -- nm - b. Jan 13, 15:37
        
        Excellent, thanks. -- nm - mara Jan 13, 15:34
- 1 person has been struck, though. -- (link) - TWuG Jan 13, 15:19 1
  - more than one - there was the boy in the article mara linked, too, at least. -- nm - b. Jan 13, 15:21
- there have been some decent impacts, though, with lucky placement. nm but: -- (link) - b. Jan 13, 15:19
well, a big enough asteroid kills everyone, so factoring in that possiblity skews the odds - dogbert Jan 13, 15:16
heh, I actually looked this up a some years ago because the asteroid thing bugged me. it turned out that - b. Jan 13, 15:15 1
- still - slipping jimmy Jan 13, 15:17
good point, mara. asteroids need to step up their game -- nm - slipping jimmy Jan 13, 15:12 1
- So does C-3PO -- nm - con_carne Jan 13, 15:14
well, the odds of you winning the powerball are zero if you don't buy a ticket. - groiny Jan 13, 15:12

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People keep saying things like "Your chances of dying of an asteroid impact are still better than winning the Powerball." And yet aren't the odds

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