Why don't modern railway tracks need expansion joints anymore?

¶The tracks in the 1930s were long and hot under the summer sun--Those gaps were what they needed. Every few hundred feet a space to breathe. But that's old iron talk now. ¶Modern tracks run co…

Top stories for Long   Why don't modern railway tracks need expansion joints anymore? Silk Road - The Second Act, Have read 10,000+ books. • Answered January 14 ¶The tracks in the 1930s were long and hot under the summer sun--Those gaps were what they needed. Every few hundred feet a space to breathe. But that's old iron talk now. ¶... Read more » 1.7K 35   What makes mosquitoes to bite humans? Ken Saladin, Former professor of histology (microscopic anatomy) • Answered December 26 Only female mosquitoes bite. That's because they need blood for their eggs to mature; it induces the mosquito brain to secrete hormones that stimulate her ovaries. Without ... Read more » 320 26   Why is the province of British Columbia shaped the way it is? CG., lives in Canada (2000-present) • Updated October 16, 2024 BC is one of the more peculiar shaped Canadian provinces but still has a rather easy history explaining it's borders. To understand BC's shape it's important to first unders... Read more » 73 4   What are the main radiation risks for astronauts during a Mars journey? Frank Norris, Author of "Colonizing Mars" and aerospace engineer • Answered December 8, 2024 The biggest issue is solar flares. Let me explain. The background level in space while higher than on Earth is partially shielded by the spacecraft itself. That dose would b... Read more » 380 27   Why didn't they make the original USB connection able to plug in any way instead of just one way? Joseph Reinemann, Computer Scientist + Author of Rarely Read Books • Answered June 27, 2019 Actually, they did. There is a design for a USB-A connector that's fully reversible. It uses a very thin double sided comb in the center so that it'll be able to make conta... Read more » 1.3K 60   Are the programs we see in movies about hackers and hacking actually functional or just CMD green texted random letters/terminals? How do they make these look like actual hacking software? Vladislav Zorov, Lead Software Engineer @ Amusnet Interactive • Answered July 13, 2024 Some are random, some are not - depends on how important this is to the movie, and whether they've hired good consultants. For example, in "The Matrix Reloaded", when Trinit... Read more » 1.9K 71   Why isn't the water frozen in the North Pole if it is as cold as they say it is there? Steven Haddock, lives in Toronto, ON (1959-present) • Answered May 1 Water has the unique property of being less dense when it's solid than when it's liquid. As such, in both oceans and deep lakes, ice forms on the top of the water. The ice c... Read more » 67 2   How do 3-way and 4-way switches work? Joel Froese, Amateur international electrician • Updated December 16 First of all, let's clear up some terminology since Quora is an international platform. What we call a "3-way" switch in the United States is called a "2-way" switch in man... Read more » 110 21   If land was formed from volcanos and such erupting, how did plants and life forms start to grow if its a hard black object? Gary Arndt, studied Geology & Geophysics at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities • Answered April 29, 2019 This is a photo of Surtsey island in Iceland. Surtsey was created by volcanic eruptions from 1963 to 1967. Before the eruption, there was no island. It is one of the 'newest... Read more » 6.1K 123   What are the key reasons Samsung phones are more expensive yet less appealing to Chinese consumers compared to local brands? CaiLei, lives in Changsha, Hunan, China (1969-present) • Answered May 4 The mainland Chinese market is the only economy in the world where the smartphone industry is completely free to compete. Even with the tariff war going on today, the iPhone... Read more » 139 17   How do musicians find out if music they composed is similar enough to a previously composed piece of music that it infringes copyrights? Rik Elswit, Musician for 60 years. Professional musician for 55. • Answered May 20 The copyrightable parts of a song are the melody and the lyrics, and in some cases, arrangements. Lyrical copyright issues could be given a quick and dirty search easily by... Read more » 87 14   How does the environmental impact of thorium reactors compare to solar, wind, and traditional nuclear power? Tomaž Vargazon, Practicing atheist • Answered April 17 Thorium has two main advantages over Uranium, neither of which is enviromental. A throim-based test reactor The two advantages are: there is more thorium than uranium in Eart... Read more » 807 48 Read more in your feed

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