Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Bet on the Falling Satellite

The UARS satellite is going to fall back to Earth on Friday -- up to 26 pieces that weight up to 532 kg -- and Irish bookmakers are taking bets on where it might land.

Here's one of the actual betting sites.

Congruent with most human problems, Africa is thought to have the worse of it: bookmakers are giving odds of 9-to-4. (That is, win €9 for every €4 you bet.) South America has odds of 11-to-4, and Asia and North America are 3-to-1.

They're giving 66-to-1 that part of the satellite lands on Ireland. They say its authenticity must be confirmed by NASA.

If you live within 57° latitude of the equator you are at risk of being hit. That includes pretty much everyone. What a terrible way to get famous.

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