The half-life of metallic iron is apparently 2.6 million years, so I'm not sure what you mean there.

isoprophlex a day ago | parent | next [-]

For some radioactive isotope probably. Uranium 235 half life is, what, > 500 million years? That would make iron significantly hotter. Normal Fe is effectively around forever.

	▲	A_D_E_P_T a day ago \| parent [-]
		On long enough timescales, the most stable thing in the universe is the iron isotope 56Fe. All heavier atoms will decay to 56Fe, and all lighter atoms will eventually combine to form 56Fe via quantum processes, even at zero temperature. 10^15000 years from now, there'll be iron stars comprised almost entirely of 56Fe.

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dijit a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Hahahah,

fair point, maybe you could show me a 50 year old rail that is still worthy of being ridden. ;)

Even a 20 year old rail is problematic from what I understand (from a UK perspective).

	▲	1718627440 20 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's not the tracks itself that need to be maintained first. When they are the issue the easiest fix is to swap the rails. What need to be done first is the gravel and then also the ties. Expensive are also trackout/switches with motors, and of course the signal boxes. What is now the big deal is adoption to newer technologies like ETCS. What needs the fastest maintenance nowadays, though, is software :-).

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GeoAtreides a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Maybe some isotopes of iron have a half-life, stable isotopes don't decay (iron is the element where all decay chains end)

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ViewTrick1002 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Rust.