British scientists say they’re tracking an asteroid that might strike Earth on March 21, 2014.
The odds of this happening about 900,000 to 1 against, the article says. The odds of my hitting NY Lotto are about 22.5 million to 1 against. I buy Lotto tickets every so often, but don’t plan to worry about asteroids — which I hope says more about human nature in general and less about me specifically.
(I also note that one of the Lottery’s FAQs is “Can you give me the winning numbers for the next drawing?” The answer is, “No. Each drawing is a completely random live occurrence.”)
