"The last time I've seen something encased in concrete like this... It was Chernobyl."

That is PRECISELY what I was thinking before Sayid said it. The Chernobyl nuclear plant was entirely encased in a "concrete sarcophagus" after the meltdown. I don't think that this is related to a nuclear accident, but it would explain the "sickness..."

Zip

And what the heck was Sayid doing at Chernobyl???

I think this is what Dr. Candle was referring to as "... the incident". Whatever happened.

As soon as Sayid said that I was like OMG none of us thought of that - or posted it. Last week when they showed the whole magnetic field with Jack's key and Desmond's filling, they mentioned the concrete wall. Then there was the discussion about the computer tapes degrading due to the field - and I figured - well thats why the concrete wall is there.. and it holds out the magnetic force.
So while I'm not ready to say that the concrete is there to contain nuclear radiation or a magnetic field - it does make me wonder what is there - because thats likely a key to things - well one of many things anyway.

ETA:
Not sure if what Sayid said would mean he physically saw it at Chernobyl.. but more likely thats the last instance where he saw something like that. He could have seen it on the Discovery Channel LOL

When Sayid said that, I went "Oh, no.." because that really explains alot of stuff about the hatch, but if something like that did happen...um, not good.

I agree.

Ya didn't have to be at Chernobyl to see the images. Whether it's for Lost research or not, I think everyone should do themselves a favour and check out this website (http://www.kiddofspeed.com/default.htm) that documents a Russian woman's motorcycle ride through the ghost towns around Chernobyl. There are images galore - my favorite images are of the actual plant, in its sarcophagus.

Zip

I don't think Sayid was actually at Chernoble. It was a well-documented event, and they took videos of the inside. I've seen some of them.

Yes, you're all right, Sayid didn't have to actually be there!

It's just that he said it with such authority and really seemed to know what he was doing, it's almost like he had 'hands on' experience with that sort of environment. It made me wonder if he didn't have a career as some type of nuclear scientist or engineer after his army career.

The reason they poured concrete over chernobyl was to try and encapsulate the radiation right?


Well maybe the Incident Mr Candle is referring to had to do with the Electro Magnetic/Generator thing had some kind of meltdown...

what if sayid and jack just exposed themselves to the radiation?

or, not going that extreme, the head of the operation just tried to encase the magnet after the incident.

Yes, you're all right, Sayid didn't have to actually be there!

It's just that he said it with such authority and really seemed to know what he was doing, it's almost like he had 'hands on' experience with that sort of environment. It made me wonder if he didn't have a career as some type of nuclear scientist or engineer after his army career.


Let's face it. Sayid is a jack of all trades and a master at some.
Who knows what kind of nuclear/chemical/biological warfare he may have run
into in Saddam's army if he were in in the late 80's early 90s. (remember the Kurds?)

I think Sayid watches the Discovery Channel.

Anybody got any references or insight about magnetic fields and nuclear containment?

The reason they poured concrete over chernobyl was to try and encapsulate the radiation right?


Well maybe the Incident Mr Candle is referring to had to do with the Electro Magnetic/Generator thing had some kind of meltdown...

what if sayid and jack just exposed themselves to the radiation?

or, not going that extreme, the head of the operation just tried to encase the magnet after the incident.

Maybe the incident was in the Tailsection's hatch - that's the one that looked destroyed and seems to have made people sick. Maybe Desmond's hatch core was encased in concrete afterwards and that's why he was okay for 3 years. Danielle's team, arriving roughly 16 years ago, may have been exposed to the initial contamination.

I agree.

Ya didn't have to be at Chernobyl to see the images. Whether it's for Lost research or not, I think everyone should do themselves a favour and check out this website (http://www.kiddofspeed.com/default.htm) that documents a Russian woman's motorcycle ride through the ghost towns around Chernobyl. There are images galore - my favorite images are of the actual plant, in its sarcophagus.

Zip

I have to say, I looked at that entire website and it was so extremely moving and unbelievable at the same time. Thanks for linking that.

Cool! Glad you enjoyed it.I've been considering the "geothermal generator" comment that Sayid made, and I can't think of any reasons to enclose a geothermal power plant in concrete - not to mention the fact that geothermal power plants have nothing to do with magnetism or electromagnetism.Zip

For those who want to go directly to the images of Chernobyl encased in its concrete sarcophagus, and you don't want to fuss with the ghost towns and history and stuff, those images are here (http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter10.html).

It (nuclear radiation) would explain the polar bears, monster sounds, and a lot more. Maybe there were genetic defects?

How would radiation explain the polar bears?

"The last time I've seen something encased in concrete like this... It was Chernobyl."

That is PRECISELY what I was thinking before Sayid said it. The Chernobyl nuclear plant was entirely encased in a "concrete sarcophagus" after the meltdown. I don't think that this is related to a nuclear accident, but it would explain the "sickness..."

Zip

Well Sayid never said he saw or was at Chernobyl. He said "The last time I heard of concrete being poured over everything was Chernobyl." So he could have only heard about it like the rest of us.

If a magnetism is what they're trying to encase, concrete would be a poor material. You need Iron, something that conducts, to redirect and contain a magnetic field. Radiation would be more plausible, but still doesn't explain the 108 button thing.

Based on Sayid's line about Chernobyl, I have a theory now that the cooldown cycle of some kind of reactor in that one bunker is 108 minutes. Typing in the numbers cools down the reactor. If you miss typing it in, emergency vents open up and the area around the bunker is contaminated with some kind of radiation (hence 'quarantine' on the inside). When this happens, an automatic distress signal broadcasts the numbers to tell the people in charge that the experiment failed.

Someone missed typing it in 16 years ago for whatever reason, Danielle's team found the numbers broadcast, they showed up and got sick. Danielle might not have gotten sick because she stayed inside most of the time, being pregnant and all, or because her pregnancy heightened her immune system.

gutsdozer, that's a delightfully terrifying theory. i can't decide if i want it to be true because it's just so damn cool and freaky, or i don't because i want the lostaways to be okay.

i used to play this computer game called Fallout, about (naturally) a post-nuclear war world. and there's one bit where you go into an area called The Glow - the place that's supposedly ground-zero of a blast. you have to wear special anti-radiation kit, and pick your way through blackened corpses, and i can't remember any moment in a game that was more eerie. i was already reminded of fallout when sayid and jack were creeping around in the basement, and when sayid said chernobyl the OMGSCARYAWESOME feeling was complete.

I think it has to do with geothermal generator. Remember Kate saying the water smelled like sulfur at times? If you have ever been to Yellowstone you can watch the water and mud bubble from the heat of the underground volcano and smell the sulfur.

I just wish they'd explain the Desmond / Jack connection :mad:

Based on Sayid's line about Chernobyl, I have a theory now that the cooldown cycle of some kind of reactor in that one bunker is 108 minutes. Typing in the numbers cools down the reactor. If you miss typing it in, emergency vents open up and the area around the bunker is contaminated with some kind of radiation (hence 'quarantine' on the inside). When this happens, an automatic distress signal broadcasts the numbers to tell the people in charge that the experiment failed.

Someone missed typing it in 16 years ago for whatever reason, Danielle's team found the numbers broadcast, they showed up and got sick. Danielle might not have gotten sick because she stayed inside most of the time, being pregnant and all, or because her pregnancy heightened her immune system.
gutsdozer, I really like your theory!

Have you seen the Canadian promo for "...and found"? you can get it here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/6213580/Cdn_Preview_And_Found.mpg.html

anyways,
there's a short piece after Michael has run away from the rest of the traveling party and you see Libby holding an object which could very easily be a geiger counter!

Based on Sayid's line about Chernobyl, I have a theory now that the cooldown cycle of some kind of reactor in that one bunker is 108 minutes. Typing in the numbers cools down the reactor. If you miss typing it in, emergency vents open up and the area around the bunker is contaminated with some kind of radiation (hence 'quarantine' on the inside). When this happens, an automatic distress signal broadcasts the numbers to tell the people in charge that the experiment failed.

Someone missed typing it in 16 years ago for whatever reason, Danielle's team found the numbers broadcast, they showed up and got sick. Danielle might not have gotten sick because she stayed inside most of the time, being pregnant and all, or because her pregnancy heightened her immune system.
FYI: Being pregnant does NOT heighten your immune system!!!!!!!! It weakens it!! Thats why pregnant women are listed along with the elderly and small children as being more vulnerable to things like E.Coli and are considered priority for flu shots etc If anything Danielle wouldve been more vulnerable as would her fetus!!!!

If a magnetism is what they're trying to encase, concrete would be a poor material. You need Iron, something that conducts, to redirect and contain a magnetic field. Radiation would be more plausible, but still doesn't explain the 108 button thing.
The concrete could be there for a few different reasons:

To keep people out of the magnetic area.
To keep people from the magnetic area out of the non-magnetic area.
One of the above and/or encasing some kind of lead/iron magnetic barrier to shield the non-magnetic area.

If this is purely a physical barrier, it's doing a very good job, and whomever put it there really wanted to keep something/someone on one side or the other.

If this is intended to act as a magnetic barrier, then it's not perfect as we know Jack's key is attracted to at least one spot in the barricaded door in the hallway. We don't know if it's attracted to any other areas, under the floors, for example.
Assuming the computers would be affected by a magnetic field, and the barrier is intended to shield magnetism, then it would appear the barrier might be shielding the computers well enough for them to operate nominally; assuming they're doing anything at all.

Are the scorch marks in the hallway from someone trying to blast the barricade down with dynamite from the Black Rock? If so, who was it? A button pusher? Dr. Candle?

Were the mirrors originally intended to look into this area because the strength of the magnetic fields were too strong for video cameras to operate properly in that section of The Swan?

Does that section connect to any other lab stations? Does the crawl space connect to any other lab stations?

I think it has to do with geothermal generator. Remember Kate saying the water smelled like sulfur at times? If you have ever been to Yellowstone you can watch the water and mud bubble from the heat of the underground volcano and smell the sulfur.

I think you answered it yourself.

If the water is heated by some kind of underground heat exchanger, the heat source is going to be something similar to what you've seen in Yellowstone.
It's not unexpected to imagine that some traces of the naturally occurring sulfur would make its way into the water. Or at least the scent might osmose it's way into the water.

Water purification is a huge industry here for the same reason. Even though the water is treated and pure enough to drink, it still might smell or taste a bit funny.
I'd expect the same sort of thing would be at play here as well.

I think it has to do with geothermal generator. Remember Kate saying the water smelled like sulfur at times? If you have ever been to Yellowstone you can watch the water and mud bubble from the heat of the underground volcano and smell the sulfur.

If it is a generator wouldn't you need access to it in case it needs to be repaired?

I've never been to that part of the world, and the first thing that I thought of was Chernobyl.

Sayid said, "The last time I HEARD OF" (I checked the tape).

If he was at Chernobyl, that's quite a backstory. He would have been 17.

"and pick your way through blackened corpses" ... I know these images were only from a game, BUT remember the blackened corpses in the cave in season 1??? HHHHMMMMMMM.......

doesn't anybody have a comment?? Do you think those blackened bodies in the cave (season 1) could imply something nuclear was the incident? I am dying to hear from the knowledgeable ones!

If they were that close to a nuclear blast I don't think there would be anything left of them.

doesn't anybody have a comment?? Do you think those blackened bodies in the cave (season 1) could imply something nuclear was the incident? I am dying to hear from the knowledgeable ones!

Blackened usually implies burned, as in combustion; flame, etc...

Radiation poisoning typically leaves the corpses intact to a large degree, relatively.

Death by nuclear blast might incinerate a person, or cause you to burst into flames, but that would still lead to combustion and make it rather difficult to tell if the source of the combustion was naturally occuring ignition sources or nuculear.


Regardless, I thought that the two bodies in season 1 (The Adam & Eve pair, if that's the pair you are speaking of) had just been there an extremely long time, and not burned, specifically. I think if they had shown signs of burns, the Lostaways would have said something, particularly Jack.

If it is a generator wouldn't you need access to it in case it needs to be repaired?
Yes, I would assume you would. What was that doorway Jack and Sayid were trying to break into it.....a doorway to the generator perhaps?