Study: Throw of dice can be predicted

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Researchers in Europe say it may be possible to predict the outcome when rolling a pair of dice but caution gamblers not to get their hopes up.

Scientists at the Technical University of Lodz in Poland and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, writing in the U.S. journal Chaos, said they determined that by knowing the initial conditions such as the viscosity of the air, the acceleration of gravity and the friction of the table it should be possible to predict the outcome when rolling the dice.

By using a high speed camera to track a die's movement as it is thrown and bounces, they found the probability of the die landing on the face that is the lowest one at the beginning is larger than the probability of landing on any other face.

However, they said, gamblers in places like Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Atlantic City aren't likely to profit from their experiments.

"Theoretically the die throw is predictable, but the accuracy required for determining the initial position is so high that practically it approximates a random process," said Aberdeen doctoral student Marcin Kapitaniak.

"Only a good magician can throw the die in the way to obtain the desired result."