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Ask the Experts 8/10/09
Are You Playing with Fire When You Play Your Tunes?
Lithium ion batteries have gotten smaller, but some worry this has led to larger risks
Ask the Experts 7/15/09
Why Does NASA Launch Space Shuttles from Such a Weather-Beaten Place?
With Endeavour enduring multiple scrubbed launches because of storms, why does the U.S. choose to launch from Florida?
Ask the Experts 7/2/09
How Do Stress Fractures Develop?
When athletes put great stress on their bodies, the damage to bones may be too much for the body to repair, potentially ending a player's season or even career
Ask the Experts 6/29/09
How Does Geothermal Drilling Trigger Earthquakes?
People living near a geothermal drilling project in fault-riddled northern California are worried about more earthquakes after a similar project triggered a major jolt in Switzerland. A seismologist explains the forces at work

Ask the Experts 7/28/09
How does bathwater give off steam?
Herman Merte, a professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, explains

Ask the Experts 7/9/09
Why not split harmful carbon dioxide into harmless carbon and oxygen?
James E. Miller, a chemical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, breaks it down

Ask the Experts 7/2/09
Why haven't we evolved eyes in the backs of our heads?
S. Jay Olshansky, a biodemographer at the University of Illinois at Chicago, looks into this query

Ask the Experts 6/9/09
What is a pitot tube?
Investigators are looking into the possibility that faulty airspeed indicators caused the crash of Air France Flight 447

Ask the Experts 6/4/09
Is there such a thing as "cell phone elbow"?
Do cell phone chatterers have more to fear than bulky monthly bills? An orthopedic surgeon explains what cubital tunnel syndrome--aka "cell phone elbow"--is, and whether it's worth worrying about

Ask the Experts 6/1/09
Why do whales beach themselves?
Fifty-five false killer whales were stranded on a South African beach over the weekend, but scientists still don't fully understand why mass strandings happen, and if we should be worried about them

Ask the Experts 5/29/09
What is Hemoglobin A1c?
Doctors say Judge Sonia Sotomayor's A1c levels indicate her type 1 diabetes will not affect her ability to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court

Ask the Experts 5/29/09
Can You Lose Your Fingerprints?
A Singaporean cancer patient was detained by U.S. customs because his cancer treatment had made his fingerprints disappear. A forensic expert explains other ways people can lose--intentionally and unintentionally--one of their unique identifiers

Ask the Experts 5/22/09
Why do two great tastes sometimes not taste great together?
Biosciences professor Tim Jacob, who studies smell and taste at Cardiff University in Wales, mixes up an answer

Ask the Experts 5/13/09
What is Morgellons Disease? Is it a physical or psychological condition?
Patients are tormented by creeping, crawling sensations in their skin, but docs say there is no evidence of bugs or parasites

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Powering a Green Planet: Sustainable Energy, Made InteractiveThe Web-only article below is a special rich-media presentation of the feature, "A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030", which appears in the November 2009 issue of Scientific American. It was created by FlypMedia.com. Use the arrow in the lower corner to navigate