this was a great way to start a show. Not the best episode at all, and the second
one(Deep throat) was much better, but with it being a pilot and everything... it really
gets a lot of stuff as it should. And unlike the chief, I liked Mulder's attempts as a
grafity artist

Oh Lord. I'd almost forgotten about the Underwear
Scene, but when I saw this, it all came rushing
back. Ick. Double Ick. Same goes for Scully's
hair

Okay, this is from a book called 'The Science of the X-Files'. I probably would have
caught this, but I've only seen the later half of this ep, and that once. Scully makes
an assertion that time is a 'universal invariant.' Since she wrote her senior
thesis on Einstein's twin paradox, she should know that time is relative. Hello, I'm
under 16 and even I know thi

Space-time, on the other hand, is an invariant. Minkowski proved that the Lorentz transform corresponds to various projections of a fixed "object" in four-dimensional space-time. Alas for poor Fitzgerald, though!

-12-

Whoa... you're right, but I'm impressed. Is this connected to your job, or (to
paraphrase Scully) is this knowledge gained by watching too many ST eps? Tht's
how I knew. That, and my obsession with Einstein and Hawking, two of my role
mode

Well, Nyla, you have good "taste" in Physicists.

Actually, KND (I can't bring myself to call you Nyla, sorry...<g>), its not work-related, but I am a dilletant (sp?) regarding all sorts of science, and relativity and quantum physics are some of my favorite areas. Another interesting item is that Planck's constant (h) is relativistically invariant. It is measured in units of action (kg-m^2/s), and all the Lorentz transforms (whatever happened to Fitzgerald anyways) cancel.

-12-

To The Twelfth man:
your last message rocks my world, and it wasn't even directed to me! <G>

Uh, yeah.
(And I thought I was overly obsessed with science. Wonder what all the giggling,
miniskirted, Spice Girls-for-role-models-girls I know would call *you*. They
call me Ms. Data.)
Anyway, I Think Hawking Is Such A Cool Guy! I have pictures of him posted all
over my room. (Along with Will Smith. So I'm not totally intellectual. So sue me.)
Entropy drool

Nyla, they'd call me "old", or maybe "geek", or maybe "nerd". Or maybe some combination thereof.

But, they wouldn't call me...

-12-

Those "Spice Girls-for-role-models" I often refer to as "giggly girls" for one reason -- they giggle absurdly when they flirt (which is constantly)

See, now I can tell them that guys actually find it unattractive when they giggle
and flirt. I do hope you're a guy..

Nyla-- you are correct with the gender

Oh good. This gives credence to my annoyance--it's not just me. I'm female so I
wasn't sure if guys actually liked giggly-girls or not. My respect for your
gender's intelligence just jumped a notch. :

Scully's essay on "Einsten's Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation" is strange, since a new interpretation would have to change the laws of relativity--unless she found some new proof, with an outlandish title.

In the opening scene, one of the men refers to the class of 1988, saying "It's happening again, isn't it". However, when Scully reviews the newspaper article on Karen Swensen's death, the headline appears to read "Fourth Tragedy Befalls Class of *87*".

Just a thought...

What is a medical doctor doing writing theses about abstruse branches of physics, anyways?

I had always thought that Scully wrote that theses
before she went to medical school

The point is that pre-meds tend to (and SHOULD) take courses in biology, anatomy, physiology, etc... and not be writing senior/graduate theses in Physics.

Scully has a degree in physics as well as medicine. Guess she's a dillente (sp?)
too.
BTW, just came back from church camp with a whole slew of those giggly girls in
my cabin. After the first day, they ceased calling me by my name. ("Hey, Nerd,
we've got Arts & Crafts in 5!" "Hey, Nerd, I used your Newsweek to swat a bug
with, and it left a big smear. Plus, I rolled it up and taped it beforehand so it
would swat better. Hope that's okay.")
Mem. VR-W

You get Newsweek while at camp? I'd be lucky if news about World War 3 reached me.

A good start, but a little fast, maybe? I mean, we basically "know" after the first two episodes that (a) aliens exist and are on Earth and (b) the government knows about it and is covering it up.

Either I missed the pilot entirely when it came out or I've completely forgotten every detail about it! It's a pretty amazing start to a new TV series IMO. My newfound interest in the X-Files is due to my purchasing of the first three (of four) volumes of the Mythology Collection, and while I think the eps could've been organized a little better it's a pretty good way to get back into the show without buying the entire series.

BJ: In the opening scene, one of the men refers to the class of 1988, saying "It's happening again, isn't it". However, when Scully reviews the newspaper article on Karen Swensen's death, the headline appears to read "Fourth Tragedy Befalls Class of *87*".
I thought they said it was the class of '89? Either way, good catch.

KND: I'd almost forgotten about the underwear scene, but when I saw this, it all came rushing back. Ick. Double Ick.
To each their own but I thought she looked pretty good for the time, and she only got better with age

To reiterate what Phil mentions in the guide why wasn't anybody interested in checking to see if anybody else had those nasal implants? Seemed like an important link, especially since Scully gave Blevins the only one they found, to not follow up on.

Cancerman, or CSM, plays an important role throughout the entire show. However, on the pilot he was freely walking around the FBI HQ and section chief's office but his involvement isn't really recognized until much later, isn't it?