They do but it defaults to XMS (extended) and you need to switch it to EMS (expanded) for them to properly run. You can easily edit their CONFIG.SYS and reboot for the change to apply.

I got a google hit about whether cockroaches can really be trained like they did in Orange is the New Black and it cites a study from 1998 that apparently after a while had most their cockroaches learn to head for a comfortably cool spot straight away. (This is the study in question).

So, looks that way. I don't find this surprising.

Ok so here is a definite answer: Not only do they have Short term memory, they can still remember it without a head o.O

Actually the microwave one is considered one of the "normal" ones (I mean, in X-Files terms). War on the Coprophages on the other hand is one of the "weird" ones, and one of the few in that cathegory I still like. Upon rewatching the series I realised most of the "comedy" episodes are not nearly as good as I remember them. War of the Copro[hages is really fun and clever. And it has dr. Bambi Barenbaum. So yeah, 12/10, episode of the year.

Yeah come to think of it, the microwave one wasn't that weird. Perhaps I should rather describe it as one of the wekaer episodes. The invisible zoo animals episode on the other hand... That fits into both: weak and weird.

As for the funny episodes. I can't remember them so well except for one that I think has retained its comedic value very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJnOtQAzO4

I didn't get to that one yet (I'm about half-way through season 5). My problem with the "comedy" episodes isnt really that they didn't "retain the comedic value". They're funny all right. And that is my problem. Upon rewatching I realised just how serious and dark the show was for the first three seasons. It really was like taking all the goofy urban legends and silly aliens conspiracy theories and giving it the gravitas of something like All The President's Men. And that's what made the show so strong and unique. It's easy to make supernatural stuff goofy, to see it given gravitas and drama is far more impressive. So the comedy episodes now feel jarring to me, like they undermine the core value of the show.

Fortunately, there are a few that managed to do both, be both off-beat and funny, but poingnant and not ruining the mood. Quagmire is a great example.

You may have injured it.

It won't have gone far.

It won't be alone either.

They will wait for dark, especially if you have disturbed them. Do not confuse memory with predation evasion.

The main storyline is actually way better than I remembered it. I mean yes, it does get convoluted and are holes in it, and the first season doesn't really have any plan for it whatsoever, there is a lot of "we're making it up as we go along" to it, but still it actually has better continuity and consistency to it then I remembered. I guess watching the whole thing, season after season in one run helps see how bits an pieces of stuff from earlier season do get followed up on. And the shadowy, sinister syndicate meetings are always fun. It's really amazing how with a couple of good character actors in one room they achieved this level of very grounded, beliveable terror, while talking about stuff such as alien colonists and sentient black oil.

A lot of it comes from how well directed and shot the show is. Some article I've read called X-Files "effortlessly cinematic", and I think it describes it perfectly. Many shows nowadays have big budget and impressive visuals, but still feel kinda amatourish to me. X-Files can just linger on a shot of Mulder sitting in a poorly lit room and look like it's a Oscar-contender.

Do cockroaches play pinochle?

Absolutely :) The cast was perfectly chosen, especially and rather unexpectedly when it came to the tea drinking syndicate members and the cigarette man. The chubby syndicate leader in particular with his weird voice works incredibly well in his role. And the lone gunmen of course. I just don't see a casting like that happening today.
At the end of the day though, Mulder and Scully really make the show. One day some decades into the future someone will try to reboot X-files without them (obivously) and it will be terrible.

Damn, all this X-files talk makes me want to watch it again :P I haven't watched it for some years and still need to continue where I left off, somewhere in season 6 I think. And after X-files, Macgyver!

You can make your own RoboRoach with this kit.

It actually works, the only problem is having to sand down the roach's waxy coating.

What??? Who says that? Some cat lover?

If dogs didn't have any memory, how come then they miss their owner etc.? (I know since I've sometimes been taking care of friends' dogs.) Dogs are also very good at learning tricks and stuff they are not allowed to do.

Heck, even cats learn fast what is not allowed, but the difference to dogs is that dogs shun away from doing the forbidden things even while they are alone, while cats shun away from them only in the presence of their "owner" (no one really owns the cats, they are free spirits).

Cats are opportunistic in that sense, they seem to think like "Oops that guy who forbids me from jumping on the kitchen tables eating food is here, better not to do that then right now but wait while he is gone...", while dogs are more communal and they shun away from forbidden things even alone just because they remember it is forbidden. Unless it is a bad dog and decides to eat all the shoes and furniture out of boredom, or maybe even to annoy its owner because he had gall to leave it alone.

All we need to know what that will be like is a look at agents Miller & Einstein in this years X-Files "Season 10" mini series. The one good thing about that turd was that it made me want to go back and rediscover the X-Files from back when it was still good.

It's really impressive how good the supporting cast was, considering how rarely they actually show up (except for Skinner). They have small roles, but they nail them so well they have a lasting impact that makes their presence felt even when they are absent for a long time. How lucky were the shows creators with their casting of the Cigarette Smoking Man, considering he orignally was a nameless extra, with no bigger role for him in their minds than looking somewhat sinister in the first episode?

It's nice to talk through all that X-Filse stuff, it's been storming around in my head for the past couple of months as I was rewatching it. Didn't expect to discuss it in a thread about the cognitive powers of cockroaches, but somehow it makes perfect sense :D

XD It really does