Ever wonder what your exact numerical risk of dying in the next year is? Feel free to satisfy your morbid curiosity at DeathRiskRankings.com, a tool developed by professors and students at Carnegie Mellon University. The site uses data from the CDC and the European Commission to calculate an estimated likelihood that you’ll kick the bucket, based on factors like your gender and geographic region.

According to Livescience:

Of course the results produced by the web site speak to groups of people and cannot predict with accuracy when you might actually kick the bucket. The timing of your own end is based on many uncharted factors, from heredity to lifestyle to untimely accidents….

The researchers found that beyond infancy, the risk of dying increases annually at an exponential rate. A 20-year-old U.S. woman has a 1 in 2,000 (or 0.05 percent) chance of dying in the next year, for example. By age 40, the risk is three times greater; by age 60, it is 16 times greater; and by age 80, it is 100 times greater (around 1 in 20 or 5 percent).

Maybe the tool can serve as a happy reminder that the clock is ticking. On that note, perhaps your precious time would be better spent doing something besides surfing the ‘net. [Ed note: No, please, surf away! And tell your friends!]

Related Content:
Discoblog: Can an Algorithm Give You Advice About Your Love Life?
Discoblog: Google Turns “Magic Algorithm” Inwards, Predicts Which Employees Will Quit
Discoblog: Ant Intelligence Could Help Us Steer Clear of Traffic Jams

Image: flickr / Robbertvan der Steeg

Remember that water-filled Magic 8 ball you used to consult? That decision-making toy has gone high-tech, thanks to a new service called Hunch, created by one of Flickr’s co-founders. The site enters information about you into an algorithm developed by MIT computer scientists. It then formulates answers to personal questions, from what you should make for dinner to where you should take a vacation.

Here’s how it works: Just like on matchmaking sites like eHarmony.com, users create a profile by answering questions about themselves—up to 1,500 questions, in this case.

After your profile has been created, you can ask the site a specific question. Hunch’s algorithm will lead you through another series of inquiries to filter out undesirable choices and rank those that remain. Finally, the site presents you with what is supposedly your best option.
(more…)