At its geeky core, Lost is a show about science and faith=97and it's
undeniable that this season, science is taking center stage. As the
survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 try to unravel the island's mysteries
in an effort to get off of it, they are thwarted again and again by
tem****al distortion, electromagnetic energy and time travel of the mind
=97not to mention a really cranky smoke monster that may or may not have
a basis in science.
In a revealing interview with Popular Mechanics on the eve of Lost's
return from a strike-induced hiatus, show runners Damon Lindelof and
Carlton Cuse insisted that they agonize over the real-life science
behind the sci-fi drama as much as they do over six-year plot arcs and
love triangles.
Before the production crew in Hawaii gets to chalking up physics
equations, eight writers in Los Angeles dissect the finer points of
each episode just as rabidly as Lost's online nerdosphere. Script
coordinator Greg Nations tracks down even more specific research than
PM's weekly Hollywood Sci-Fi vs. Reality fact check, while the rest of
the writer's room relies on a couple years of physics cl*****, decades
of engineering know-how passed down by Cuse's father ... and every
time-travel theory in comic-book history.
But text books can be left on the cutting room floor of a show that
ultimately abides by "Jurassic Park rules," because it does, after
all, take place on an island full of out-of-place creatures. "The
science needs to be right enough that we create a sense of
believability to the storytelling," Cuse says. "But we're always
trying to skirt that line between the two possible explanations=97the
scientific one or a mythical and magical one=97and we are purposefully
ambiguous about which one might be correct."
"Hopefully it won't feel like it's a copout when the show does answer
that question," Lindelof adds, "because we never promised a show that
was based entirely and grounded in science."
Perhaps the most ambiguous faith-or-science mystery on Lost is that
murderous smoke monster (rumor has it Smokey will be back in tonight's
episode). Because the travelling black cloud often materializes with a
roller coaster-style clanking sound, one popular theory suggests that
it comprises thousands of nanobots working in tandem. Lindelof,
however, says that's definitely not the case, and that the monster's
true identity won't be revealed until the show's final stretch in
2010.
But the creators did let slip that the rest of this season will
revolve around some very real=97and very big=97physics: the Large Hadron
Collider, the much delayed European particle accelerator that could
reveal information about the Higgs boson and dark energy. Some
physicists believe the LHC will produce mini black holes, which might
actually be able to open a one-way ****tal to another universe=97a
gateway that can only be kept open by a force of energy as strong as
Jupiter ... or an electromagnet inside a desert island.
Michio Kaku, author of Physics of the Impossible, thinks the Lost
creators are using cutting-edge science to lay the groundwork for a
transversible wormhole to another point in space and time=97a trip
foreshadowed in an off-season video about the so-called Orchid
station, which Lindelhof and Cuse promised would be a key to the next
few episodes. "They're amping up the energy to the point where space
and time begin to tear, and the fabric begins to rip," Kaku tells PM.
"When the fabric of space and time begin to rip, things that we
consider impossible become possible again."
Even new technology, though, has its limits. And the Lost team had no
problem modifying some next-gen touchscreen satellite phones to its
needs in showing off its beyond-iPhone power, beginning late last
season. "We didn't really want to put ourselves in a position where we
were married to everything that exists technologically," Cuse says.
"We decided that our satellite phone would be a very modern, high-tech
version." Plus, Lindelof adds, they're dealing with the personal
property of a bad guy who can plant a fake plane crash in a submarine
trench too deep for recovery.
One thing's for certain: Lost is the first mainstream TV show since
Mr. Wizard to make science cool again. Across thousands of Web sites
devoted to Lost, obsessive viewers analyze screen captures, debate
theories of living in purgatory and play online games in trying to
answer the ultimate science question: What is this damn island? Andy
Page, webmaster of Lost fan site DarkUFO, says his site normally
receives 800,000 hits the day after a new episode, and has had over 50
million hits in two years. "It started as a simple blog listing all
the outstanding mysteries of the show and snowballed from there," he
says, insisting that The X-Files has nothing on Lost when it comes to
myth hunting.
"It kind of boggles our minds, actually," Cuse says. "We never
imagined that people would get wrapped up in the intricacies of it to
the degree that they have. We really just set out to make a show that
we thought was kind of cool and entertaining."
Mission accomplished.
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