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LOST physics explained

For all practical purposes, making an island vanish into thin air doesn't seem possible. Neither do the dead reappearing or the weird split-personality time warp. But the hit TV show LOST, makes of these things possible thanks to some fancy physics.

In the LOST season finale last week, we learned that the existence of exotic matter on the island created a Casmir effect. While it sounded far fetched, quantum physicists have theorized that the Casmir effect could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow travel at speeds faster than light. This could explain all of the out of place space/time phenomena that occurs on the island, and the mystery surrounding the island itself.

The writers at Popular Mechanics seem to be fans of the show also, and have devoted several articles to the science behind the show, particularly in the season finale. Read them here and here.