A little chance.
A lot to discover.
A stubborn 7. A suspicious coin. Five thousand years of people trying to be fair. Come for a little story, stay to try something.
Every picture in the Lab is drawn from the thing it’s about — real dice outcomes, real shuffles, real random numbers.
Look something up.
Every date, number and quotation links to where we found it.
A history of chanceFrom knucklebones to quantum light: the people and machines that tried to be unpredictable on purpose.
Facts worth repeatingCoins, dice, cards, lotteries, people and machines — numbers you can quote, with the source attached.
A–Z of chance43 words explained without jargon, each linked to a place you can try the idea.
How we pickWhere the randomness comes from, how we fit it to your range, and a test you can run yourself.Start with a story.
Each one opens with a small scene and hands you an experiment.
Everyday randomness
Why random numbers repeat
When 7 shows up again, it’s tempting to blame the button. Let’s give it a fair hearing.
Come on in
Practical guide
How to pick raffle winners without repeats
Three prizes, a bowl of names, and one small detail to sort out before the drumroll.
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Try an experiment
Can you spot a random sequence?
One row comes from coin flips. One follows a rule. Which one would you trust?
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A short history
The book containing a million random digits
The wonderfully odd book that put a million random digits on the shelf.
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Everyday randomness
Is a coin flip really 50/50?
Flip a thousand and watch the share settle — while the streaks refuse to stop.
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People and chance
Why everyone picks 7
Pick a digit from 0 to 9. We’ll show you how predictable that was.
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Under the hood
How computers make random numbers
Run a 1940s recipe for random digits and watch it fall into a loop.
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Under the hood
Lava lamps, radio static and atoms: where true randomness comes from
Photograph a wall of lava lamps and boil the picture down to one number.
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True stories
When the lottery wasn’t random
Weighted balls, a lazy drum and an insider’s code: four times the draw was fixed.
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Everyday randomness
Seven shuffles: how long it takes to mix a deck
Riffle a rainbow deck and watch the order break up — it takes longer than you think.
Come on inWork it out.
For the moments when “what are the chances?” is a real question.
Odds and tables
Dice odds: every total, worked out
Why 7 wins, what advantage is worth, and a calculator for any handful of dice.
Open it up
Odds and tables
Lottery odds, honestly worked out
How tiny the chance really is, a calculator for any game, and verified official formats.
Open it up
Words
Heads or tails around the world
Testa o croce, yazı tura, หัวก้อย: what each language calls the two sides, and why.
Open it upYou don’t need to be a numbers person.
A little curiosity is plenty. Each story has something to play with along the way. And if you came here to make a choice, the number generator is always one tap away.