Rodolfo Llinas is a professor of neuroscience at the New York University School of Medicine. Llinas studies how neurons work and is very interested in the connection between what we think—our minds—and what goes on chemically inside the brain.

If you had a chance to ask Rodolfo Llinas a question about his work, what would it be? Submit your question to us using the form below. We'll pick some questions to send to him, and we'll post his answers here next week.

Electricity has saved my life at least twice this year.

Both times, I was in the hospital—after a snowboarding accident and after an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Both times, doctors used electricity to take pictures of my brain and bones, monitor my heart, and determine when it was safe for me to go home.

Even when I'm not getting hurt, I'm grateful to have electricity in my life. It powers my air conditioner during the steamy days of summer. It keeps my ice cream cold in the freezer. And, of course, electricity keeps my lights and computer on so that I can write enough stories to pay my bills.

My visit to the Bakken Museum only deepened my appreciation for the wonders of electricity. It was neat to see how people have been marveling at and tinkering with electricity for ages. Even the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture taps into the body's "chi," a source of energy that might be the same as what we call electricity.

Lightning is perhaps nature's most impressive display of electricity. Just be sure you are sitting somewhere safe and dry to watch it light up the sky!