The Science Behind The X-Files:

Tithonus

• While this episode might be considered poetic in its own quiet way, it didn't have much in the way of science (much like most of the episodes this season). You might have noticed, however, that the prime suspect, Alfred Fellig, happens to be a photographer. If you're interested in the science of photography, you may want to check out the science file on UNRUHE....
  To take a slightly different tangent on the same subject: Fellig's camera flash, with its high-pitched whine (when charging) serves as a dramatic element in the episode, usually signalling that someone's about to die. How does a camera flash work? It's essentially a set of capacitors hooked up to a xenon bulb...but it's not quite as simple as that.
  
  For a detailed scientific look at electronic camera flashes, visit Dr. Toomas Taam's FAQ page at http://www.chem.helsinki.fi/~toomas/photo/flash-faq.html.

• Fellig tells Scully that he's cheated death ever since he miraculously survived a bout with yellow fever when he was young. Yellow fever is a viral disease spread in humans by mosquito vectors. (We looked at mosquitos before--way back in the PILOT episode.) Although it has currently resurged only in central Africa and South America, it did emerge in violent urban epidemics in America at several times during the 19th Century.
  
  To learn more about the nature of yellow fever, check out the ASTDHPPHE's fact sheet on the virus at http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/yellow.html.

• Poor Fellig: by Mulder's estimate, he's 149 years old, and he just keeps on aging. What is aging, anyway, you ask? Why do people's bodies start to break down as they get older? Scientists have theories, but frankly they're not quite sure. One of the predominant theories involves free radicals, but that's a topic for another episode (DOD KALM). If you'd like to learn a little more about the science of aging, perhaps you should look into geriatrics (the study of age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's) or gerontology (the wholistic science of aging that looks more at its social effects and demographics).
  
  Geriatrics definition: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict?geriatrics
  Gerontology definition: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict?gerontology
  If you'd like to read more about aging research, check out Wayne State University's GeroWeb (home of the Virtual Library on Aging) at http://www.iog.wayne.edu/GeroWebd/GeroWeb.html.