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The Science of Scratch-Offs: What Your Brain Can’t Resist

Season 52 | 6m 39s

Scratch-off tickets are big money for state-run lotteries. Is it the promise of winning big that keeps players in the game? Or is there something else happening in the brain?

National Corporate funding for NOVA is provided by Carlisle Companies. Major funding for NOVA is provided by the NOVA Science Trust, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS viewers.
Extras
They paid only $27.50 for it from a London bookseller in 1946.
Go behind the scenes as NOVA visits the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile.
Forensic science is put to the test after the first-ever staged multi-vehicle pileup.
Forensic science is put to the test after the first-ever staged multi-vehicle pileup.
A first-of-its-kind experiment aims to stage a multi-vehicle pileup to gain new data on car safety.
A first-of-its-kind experiment aims to stage a multi-vehicle pileup to gain new data on car safety.
After centuries of pseudoscience, researchers examine the causes of racial health disparities.
After centuries of pseudoscience, researchers examine the causes of racial health disparities.
Investigate medical algorithms in which the patient’s race drives decisions.
Two students created glasses that can identify people on the street, without them knowing.