Reply #12: the odds............... [View All]

[windansea]

Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years: 1 in 5,000


Chance of dying from any kind of injury during the next year:

1 in 1,820

From intentional self-harm:

1 in 9,380

From an assault: 1 in 16,421

From a car accident: 1 in 18,585

From any kind of fall: 1 in 20,666

From accidental drowning:

1 in 79,065

From exposure to smoke, fire,

and flames: 1 in 81,524

In an explosion: 1 in 107,787

From exposure to forces of nature (heat, cold, lightning, earthquake, flood): 1 in 225,107

In an airplane accident:

1 in 354,319

From choking on food:

1 in 370,035

In a terrorist attack while visiting

a foreign country: 1 in 650,000

In a fireworks accident:

1 in 1,000,000

From overexertion, travel or

privation: 1 in 1,428,377

From food poisoning:

1 in 3,000,000

From legal execution: 1 in 3,441,325

From contact with hot tap water:

1 in 5,005,564

From parts falling off an airplane: 1 in 10,000,000

From ignition or melting

of nightwear: 1 in 30,589,556

Jaws dropper

Chance of dying from being bitten by a dog: 1 in 700,000

From contact with a venomous animal or plant: 1 in 3,441,325

From being bitten or struck by mammals (other than dogs or humans): 1 in 4,235,477

From a mountain lion attack in

California: 1 in 32 million

From a shark attack:

1 in 300 million

Health risks

Chance of American man developing cancer in his lifetime: 1 in 2

Of an American woman: 1 in 3

Of getting prostate cancer: 1 in 6

Of getting breast cancer: 1 in 9

Of getting colon/rectal cancer:

1 in 26

Of beating cancer: 9 to 1 against for cancers like pancreatic and liver, 9 to 1 in favor for thyroid and

testicular cancers

Of having a stroke: 1 in 6

Of dying from heart disease: 1 in 3

Of getting arthritis: 1 in 7

Of suffering from asthma or allergy diseases: 1 in 6

Of getting the flu this year: 1 in 10

Of developing schizophrenia: 1 in 00

Of contracting the human version of mad cow disease: 1 in 40,000,000

Of dying from SARS in the United States: 1 in 100,000,000

Household horrors

Odds of injury from fireworks:

19,556 to 1

From shaving: 6,585 to 1

From using a chain saw: 4,464 to 1

From mowing the lawn: 3,623 to 1

Odds of fatally slipping in bath or shower: 2,232 to 1

Of drowning in a bathtub: 685,000 to 1

A bad fork in the road

Odds of being killed on a 5-mile bus trip: 500,000,000 to 1

Of being killed sometime in the next year in any sort of transportation accident: 77 to 1

Of being killed in any sort of non-transportation accident: 69 to 1

Bolt out of the blue

Odds of being struck by lightning: 576,000 to 1

Of being killed by lightning:

2,320,000 to 1

Spaced out

Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years: 1 in 5,000

Of dying in such a collision: 1 in 20,000

Killer stats

Odds of being murdered: 18,000 to 1

Of getting away with murder: 2 to 1

Of being the victim of serious crime in your lifetime: 20 to 1

Sources: National Safety Council; "Life: The Odds" by Gregory Baer (2003); www.tchester.org; National Survey of Family Growth; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; FBI; "The Sizesaurus" by Stephen Strauss (1995); "What Are the Chances?" by Bernard Siskin and Jerome Staller with David Rorvik (1989); William Hill, bookmakers – London; www.fourleafclover.com; American Heart Association; American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery; American Lung Association; American Cancer Society; National Center for Health Statistics; "The Book of Odds" by Michael D. and Robert L. Shook (1991); The Astronomical Journal.