The allergy pill Allegra, from Aventis (nyse: AVE - news - people ), might stop your runny nose but it can also give you a backache.

FORBES: The Baby, The Bathwater And The Medicine Chest

The riding position has the seat higher than the handlebars, which is fine if you want to go fast, but just gives the middle-aged cyclist backache after about a mile.

WSJ: An Urban Cyclist's Criteria

Engineers can calculate the most efficient route for a spray-painting robot to take around a car body, work out how quickly parts must be supplied, look for bottlenecks or even tell if a human worker's task is likely to give him backache.

ECONOMIST: Manufacturing technology