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Odds-on Science

utopia27 writes "According to article in New Scientist, a UK-based bookie will be taking bets for two weeks on major science benchmarks (specifically, odds of implementation by 2010). The ponies are life on Titan, 10,000:1, gravitational waves, 500:1, the Higgs boson, 6:1, cosmic ray origins, 4:1, and nuclear fusion, 100:1."

20 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. I'll bet... by BoldAC · · Score: 5, Funny

    Duke Nukem Forever -- 25,000:1

    (grin)
    AC

    1. Re:I'll bet... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

      SCO showing copyrighted code in Linux: 50,000:1

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  2. Obligatory quote by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sorry! This section of Newscientist.com is unavailable at the current time - every effort is being made to get it back up and running as quickly as possible.

    The ponies are life on Titan, 10,000:1
    Gravitational waves, 500:1
    The Higgs boson, 6:1
    Cosmic ray origins, 4:1
    Nuclear fusion, 100:1

    The New Scientist getting a good Slashdotting: priceless

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Obligatory quote by amorangi · · Score: 3, Funny

      There's 10,000:1 odds on ponies on Titan? That's pretty good odds!

  3. 10000 to 1? by grasshoppa · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am reminded of a certain phrase:

    The lottery is just a tax on fools.

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    1. Re:10000 to 1? by That's+Unpossible! · · Score: 4, Funny

      The lottery is just a tax on fools.

      Slashdot is a lottery for those that are bad at remembering quotations.

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      Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
  4. Easy Money... by still_sick · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stalk Steven Hawking, bet what he bets.


    ... Or just knock him down and take his winnings. Either way, Bling-Bling!

    --
    ...Also, I didn't know Buggalo could fly.
  5. Slashdot readers getting laid- by computechnica · · Score: 4, Funny

    10000000:1

  6. Odds the bookie will skip the country... by MaineCoon · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...and go to the bahamas by 2006:

    1:1.

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  7. One more odds. by Chmarr · · Score: 5, Funny

    He forgot the most important one:

    Odds on the bookie being contactable in 6 years to pay out on all the bets he lost: 1,000,000:1

  8. Re:Nuclear fusion? by Mateito · · Score: 5, Funny
    The problem is controlling and sustaining it.

    I heard that there is some scientist who has developed a system of four AI controlled robotic arms that will allow him to manually control the reaction. Apparently they hook into his nervous system. Could be interesting.

  9. Re:I'm betting on Longhorn security by Altus · · Score: 4, Funny


    this is obviously a troll... thoese couldnt be the odds that longhorn woudl have no security issues in the first month after its release because the odds of longhorn even being released by 2010 are 5000000000:1

    --

    "In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson

  10. Re:Slashdot readers getting laid- by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    10000000:1
    My personal apologies to 10000000 slashdot readers. It is strictly numbers folks.


    You should apologize to the frightened-looking "1" woman at the right of the colon...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  11. Re:Nuclear fusion? by nettdata · · Score: 3, Funny

    Link can be found here or here.

    --



    $0.02 (CDN)
  12. Odds you get any money back by pyro101 · · Score: 3, Funny

    1,000,000,000,000:1
    Now your sure this isn't another Niger scam?

  13. Re:Nuclear fusion? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Could be interesting.

    Don't bet on it.

  14. How about Pseudo-science odds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Scientology: Must make minimum bet of $100K to see odds.
    Greys: You knew the odds before we wiped your memory.
    ESP: You already know the odds.
    The Rapture: 666-1
    Creationism: See Blind Watchmaker's Odds Book

  15. Another slashdotter who is clueless re bookmaking by Vainglorious+Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    Stalk Steven Hawking, bet what he bets. ... Or just knock him down and take his winnings.

    No, quite the oppposite : you bet what Hawking *doesn't* bet. If you win, great. If you lose, then he wins, so *then* you knock him down. The bookie's term for this is "laying off" the bet.

    --
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  16. Re: Grammar by aggiefalcon01 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Please note, kids-- this is where grammar counts. See, The ponies are life on Titan ... and The ponies are: life on Titan ... convey very different meanings.

    --
    Global warming is neither science, nor politics. It is a religion.
  17. Re:Enough to change my life... by nacturation · · Score: 3, Funny

    3) Distribute the rest, anonymously, into my friends' bank accounts after *somehow* surreptitiously getting their account numbers. Explain my sudden wealth by saying "Yeah, it happened to me, too - weird, innit?"

    I've just added you to my friends list. :)

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