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Alliance Announces 2nd Annual High School Essay Contest | Alliance For Science Write about evolution, win money (if you're a high school student, anyway). (tags: science education biology politics) Jobs, News and Views for All of Higher Education - Inside Higher Ed :: Benefits for Pets, Not…
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The Republic of T. » Sotomayor & The Vulcan Standard, Pt. 2 "It hit me like a slap in the face. It sounded familiar, but different. To me, this fictional family was white. But in the time and place they occupied on the page they weren't "white enough." "Oh my God!" I exclaimed. My husband,…
A Smoove Evening | The Onion - America's Finest News Source "The plan to seduce Michelle Obama in both body and soul has also not moved forward during the last few months. She and her people have stopped returning Smoove's phone calls, and his letters, and the elaborately arranged fruit…

"How to Teach Physics to Your Dog" was a fantastic read! Unfortunately, I am not as smart at Emmy so I have a question about virtual particles.

Is it possible for a virtual particle consisting of a proton/antiproton pair to "pop" into existence close enough to the nucleus of a helium atom (two protons and two neutrons) such that the antiproton of the virtual particle annihilates one of the protons of the helium atom leaving Tritium and a virtual proton? If so, would it be possible for the virtual proton to escape capture by the tritium nucleus like the Hawkings Radiation you mention escapes a black hole? Or would the virtual proton always replace the annihilated proton in the helium nulceus changing the brief tritium atom back to helium?

Thanks again for writing such an amazing book! I had to read several chapters twice so an answer Emmy could understand would help a lot.

Blair Nelson

By Blair Nelson (not verified) on 03 Feb 2011 #permalink