Four years ago, when Marie Curie was still alive, her old heart was proud that her shy young daughter and her brilliant young son-in-law were showing themselves to be able and devoted scientists. In the Curie Laboratory of Paris' Institut du Radium Irène Curie-Joliot and Jean Frederic Joliot were shooting alpha particles (nuclei of helium atoms) at the lightweight element beryllium. Strange rays hopped out of the beryllium. Fed into paraffin, the rays knocked out protons (hydrogen nuclei) at dizzy speeds of one-tenth the velocity of light. What were the strange rays?
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