--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "dendriite" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>The odds of being killed by an asteroid are greater that being >struck by
>lightning or being killed in a plane crash. It sounds >strange, but
>asteroids (like weapons of mass destruction) kill so >many when a fall does
>occur, that it greatly increases the odds for >a single individual.
Well, I've gotten some numbers from a Rice University site. It is argued
that the KT type impact, the dinasour killer, happens about once every 10-8
years. That is a kill all of humanity type strike. Kill 1 million people
strikes happen every 200k years. Kill 10,000 people strikes happen every few
hundered years. Integrate them out, and it probably is higher than a one in
250,000 chance...which is the likelyhood of being killed by lightning.
>
>I disagree. The vast amounts, availability, and sometimes even the >purity
>of materials in asteroidal bodies is going to make the first >people to
>exploit them incredibly wealthy.
But they are only available if you spend millions upon millions for each
kilo brought back. Launch costs per kilo have not gone down much since the
'60s, remember.
Dan'm Traeki Ring of Crystallized Knowledge.
Known for calculating, but not known for shutting up
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