Sunday, May 20, 2007

The Looking Glass


  • First seen in S03E21 when Charlie and Desmond follow the cable into the ocean

25 comments:

TheLostMap said...

Hey losty,

I'm not sure if we can say that it appears to be south of the main island since the North arrow is conspicously missing.

Mike

LostySmurf said...

Hey Mike,

yeah, you're right. I'll remove that remark. Thank you!

And something else: I think the scale doesn't seem to make any sense at all. First I thought it might refer to the distance between the station and the island but then I noticed the wavy marks indicating a "cut". What do you think?

TheLostMap said...

Hey Losty,

I really have not had a lot of time to review the Looking Glass map, but these are my thoughs anyway,

1. The scale is accurate for the whole drawing, but I can't tell the units. The cut depicts a long section that can't fit into a scale drawing, so there is no way to determine the length of the cable in this drawing.

2. The graph on the top of the page is a graph showing the four daily tides throughout a week, with a formula beneath it.

3. The formula at the bottom left is:

H(t)=acos(2pi*t/T)+Z=acos(360*t/T) + Z

with a accompanying table beneath it.

I think this has something to do with the approach of the sub to the docking chamber.

I'd be interested to compare the GVS number 199288472982 to the GVS number for the Flame. What does GVS stand for?

I think this image on at the right hand bottom shows the profile of the supports if looking at the hatch from the plan view perspective (we are rotated from the left image, so the supports are not lined up.)

LostySmurf said...

I've applied the popular "post first, analyze later"-method for the Looking Glass station (therefore the north arrow error) so your review is by far much more sophisticated than mine. :)

1. There's a HD promotional image of the map posted at DarkUFO's. The scale's labelled 'Scale in miles'. And that's exactly wanted to point out: Why is there a scale when obviously the blueprints and the distance are out of scale. Maybe it's a standard DHARMA-Map-Footer... :)

2. Thanks for the info about the graph. I initially thought it would be some Fourier transformed stuff with a sequence below it.

3. The formula looks familiar. 2*pi/T is the angular frequency ("omega") used for periodic stuff and it could be a simple harmonic motion with an offset (Z). So I guess it could be an approximation for the stations up and down motion.

Hmm, the numbers seems to be the same (GVS-199288472982) but I'm not sure about the last three digits. I've no idea what GVS stands for.

TheLostMap said...

Wow, that is a good screen shot.

Well, with the better view I was able to come to a couple of realizations.

The formula on the first page is also a tital chart, but is taken over a month. The H(t) is a represention the the tide above or below a standard datum over time(day). The row are days (up to 30) and the columns are 24 hours (1-12 am then 1-12 pm).

As I said before, I think the scale is accurate, but the total length of the scale is 1/4 mile, which mean that the individual scale marking are 1/16 of a mile. There is no way to determine the cable length from this map.

The moon only influences tides about 2.5 times as much as the sun, so you have to add the sun and moon plus a localize offset (a drag coefficient) to come close to prediction tides. That is what I think the formula on the second page is. I have that formula somewhere in my notes. I would have to look for it.

TheLostMap said...

Hey Losty,

As far as the Looking Glass map is concerned, a viewer comment at Lost Mysteries- Screenshots

The show simply copied a couple of pages from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. The first equation is a simple tidal equation, and the second is a complex tidal equation. The bottom right figure on the second page is a graphical method of describing tides at different locations simultaniously.

Whoever did this for the show really had no idea what they were doing, and I think they have a limited understanding of tides.

You would either select the simple method or the complex method, but not both.
Why even use a tital chart? I could see it being needed for construction, but subsequently, I would use a simple meter to measure the depth (They would undoubtably need this to pressurize the interior to offset the water pressure for the moon pool. 70 meters is about 500 psi!!

Anyway, you are right concerning the scale. It could be 1/16 mile units, but why would a map have SI units along the left hand side for the depth and English units for the scale? I think they somehow screwed up. There is no way Charlie could swim 70 meters down.

This map is very confusing to me.



Mike

LostySmurf said...

Hey Mike,

thanks for the comment! Yeah, it all looks somehow fishy. It is possible to dive that deep (see apnea diving) but you certainly need special breathing technique and a lot of training for it.

Another thing that seems odd to me is the missing little building (that can be seen on the map). So my guess would be the Others somehow bypassed the original cable or even moved the whole station to a different place (which could be in more narrow waters). I know this sounds very weird but I think it could be an unlikely but possible option.

<Podcast spoiler> (just in case you weren't able to listen to it yet)

TPTB mentioned there was a reference to the LG on the blast door map but I couldn't find it. Maybe I've to take a closer look (as stated before, I'm very good in overlooking important items :) ).

</Podcast spoiler>

TheLostMap said...

Hey Losty,

I don't think it's a little building on the map, but simply an anchor embedded in the bedrock of the mountain.

The cable is an anchoring cable, not a communication cable.

TheLostMap said...

Hey Losty,

I have a question that is totally off topic. I'm curious why you have the subscriptions bar on your blog site. It occupies prime real estate. Is there any advantage to doing this. I would this your blog would look better without it. Less clutter. You blog looks great, but I just don't understand. I'm sure there's a good reason.

Thanks,

Mike

Anonymous said...

Hey guys,

Im looking forward to seeing more of the Looking Glass tonight :) The Radio Tower ... we finally get to see it after 3 years!!

I have a feeling things are going to be totally different after we watch this episode. So i'll see you on the other side :D

btw it's on in 2h 15m for me ... just thought i'd rub that in :)

Maverick.

LostySmurf said...

Hey guys,

I also noticed the "anchor" caption on the map but I think it's very unusual to anchor an underwater station to an island (instead of simply anchor it to the sea ground). So if you're not a supporter of the "floating island" theory this doesn't seem to make any sense or what do you think?

Thanks for your remark about the Feedburner icons. I'll remove them except for one RSS feed icon. The benefit is that I can see how much people are subscribed and other things. But your absolutely right, they're really occupying too much space (I sometimes don't realize such things myself because I just get used to them). :)

I'm very excited about this season's finale tonight because it's really hard to top the last episodes which were totally awesome!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the Cable is damaged, and you can see wires coming out of it. Heavy duty chain would be the best way to anchor it.
The Cable is also pretty lose fitting and the station is secured to the ground with 4 huge legs isnt it?

Im also thinking the LG could be a wave power generator or perhaps geothermal. Could disrupting the power supply in a specific way result in a jamming effect?

I can't wait to see how this station comes into play tonight !!

Maverick.

TheLostMap said...

As far as the Anchor is concerned, you need to achor to bedrock. Anchoring in the water would have to drill deep enough to reach bedrock.

TheLostMap said...

Actually, as far as the cable is concerned, I don't think it's possible to anchor the Looking Glass with the cable, I'm just relating the map designations.

The diagram calls out the cable being anchored.

What the cable may be is simply a grounding cable.

As far as using a heavy duty chain link rather than cable, that simply does not make sense. Chain link would fail much faster than cable, that's why cable is always used in tension ( Look at a suspension bridge, or bracing for a structure)

Anonymous said...

I agree the cable is not an anchor, but I don't think it's just a grounding cable either.

Until shown otherwise, we have no reason to believe this isn't the Sonar Cable mentioned by Patchy.

Maverick.

(p.s chain is usually used in salt water conditions due to build-up and corrosion issues)

LostySmurf said...

Hmmm, I think you don't need a grounding cable when you're in the water.

TheLostMap said...

I think they said that the Looking glass jamming was completely insulated from water, therefore, even if it was flooded it would still operate.

Maybe the cable is simply a way for people to reach it from the surface.

TheLostMap said...

Hey Losty,

I know a lot of people seem to think that the Pearl station is on Ben's map, but I don't see it. I can see a Dharma Station symbol, but I can't make out the name of the station. Can you. I think I figured out why Ben's map look so different, but I want to make sure. If I'm right, we hav nothing to worry about.

Mike.

LostySmurf said...

Hey Mike,

I definitely doubt that it's the Pearl seen on Ben's map (though, the Pearl logo IS a plain DHARMA symbol but I can't read any caption). It seems to be too close to the Barracks. In the Pearl-VHS the scientists are told to take the Pala Ferry to get to the barracks. Well, one could argue that they had to pass the security barrier and therefore needed the sub to get there, but IMO it's simply just too far away from the coast.

There are other oddities to investigate in the finale (but at least we have some months to solve them :)) which might be connected with each other. I've also a theory (caused by a certain statement made by Damon Lindelof before the finale) but I have to rewatch the episode and note everything to see if it makes any sense.

I'm very curious about your theory explaining Ben's map and I'm looking forward to read it!

TheLostMap said...

Hey Losty


Concerning Ben's map in "Looking Through the Looking Glass", some thing are odd.
One thing that is odd, is that we are looking at two separate maps.
I'm not sure why, but it's probably a production error.


This map shows the reference between Ben's map and Rouseau's map. The "artifact" and the square of the barracks that we discussed are shown. This compliments my map, as well as Screen shots of maps.

Barracks and screen shots- photo 1

The following Map shows the red line Ben draw going through the P of Pascal. The name of area that the line ('m assuming this is their camp) is termed Pascal Flats in this map.Map number 2


For some reason, the maps Ben uses seem to be coastal maps, with intermittent mountain depitions as referene.

The photos demonstates two seperate maps. One has the red line going through the P of Pascal, the other has the red line above the P of Pascal

One spells out Pascal Flats
The other spells out Pascal Flmts


The next photo demonstate the complimentary nature of the maps. What we actually learn is the locaton of a new Station! The barracks are simply separate barracks. Why assume only one?
new station

LostySmurf said...

I've posted my reply here

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

You write very well.

Anonymous said...

People can anyone explain me what the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 mean?Please i'm confused.These series are the best but there are a bit confused.LOST RULES!!

Anonymous said...

What dharma is doing??I think its something for the end of the world or.Well gyes spare me i am only 14 years old and i see lost like a freak.Please tell me what is the role of dharma.What this dharma doing?Oh and please tell me what the nambers mean ot what do you think 4815162342.I would like to know also,what the moving black smoke is.i suggest:play the game Lost via domus