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Weekend


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August 15, 2003

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. A friend was given two lottery jackpot tickets marked 1-2-3-4-5-6 and 37-38-39-40-41-42, picking 6 numbers out of 42, and wants to trade you both for your lucky 7's ticket of 7-14-21-28-35-42. A good or bad bet for you?

    A. A hugely GOOD bet, says mathematician and computer scientist Timothy Law Snyder, of Fairfield University. Remember, lottery numbers result from "ping pong balls popping from a hopper." The balls have no idea about "lucky" numbers, or which ones popped out last time. So EVERY combo has an equal chance of winning.


     
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