  We solve the following geometric problem, which arises in several
three-dimensional applications in computational geometry: For which
arrangements of two lines and two spheres in R^3 are there infinitely many
lines simultaneously transversal to the two lines and tangent to the two
spheres?
  We also treat a generalization of this problem to projective quadrics:
Replacing the spheres in R^3 by quadrics in projective space P^3, and fixing
the lines and one general quadric, we give the following complete geometric
description of the set of (second) quadrics for which the 2 lines and 2
quadrics have infinitely many transversals and tangents: In the
nine-dimensional projective space P^9 of quadrics, this is a curve of degree 24
consisting of 12 plane conics, a remarkably reducible variety.
