Placing bets on ideas is illegal in the US but not in the UK. Based on this model, Betfair is one of the few Internet startups that is doing very well in the UK but won’t be coming to the US any time soon.
To gauge the likelihood of whether there was life on Mars, look to the people that are trading futures on it.
MSNBC – Life on Mars? Don’t bet against it
“Ladbrokes said it has closed the book on evidence emerging that Mars had ever harbored living organisms.”
‘Following the latest news from NASA, we think it is now likely that evidence of past life on Mars will be found in the coming years,’
The odds: 16-1 at close, down from 1000-1 when betting started.