[Buddha-l] ?????

[Michael Paris]

jkirk wrote:
>  What got to me while watching the Nova program on black holes,
> aside from finally understanding gravity (or at least their
> graphix explanation of it), was the implication that black holes
> are not impermanent--they just get bigger and bigger.  They too
> must undergo changes but nobody seems to know how.  
> Joanna

Yes, they are impermanent. Due to quantum tunneling effects, they emit 
"Hawking radiation" (deduced by Stephen Hawking) and so, over aeons, 
will dissolve.

However, it is questionable if protons decay. If they don't, then they 
will last beyond time, if such a concept is <ahem> conceivable.

Googling "proton decay" brought up some very interesting web sites, 
starting with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_decay



Michael