This theory proposes three things.
1) A link between the time-skippers, Sawyer, Juliette, Miles, Charlotte, and perhaps eventually Faraday and Jin, constantly shifting day/night cycle and "extreme jetlag,"
2) A link between the constantly shifting physical location of the time-skippers, the disorientation they experience
3) The link between nosebleeds, the headaches and acute pain and sudden changes in barometric pressure.
First part:
Traditionally, the pineal gland, a pea-sized gland located at the eyeline in the centre of the brain has been a "mystery gland." It wasn't known how it worked, and to some extent, is still new to science. Ancient cultures linked it to the third eye, the seat of consciousness. For example, Rene Descartes speculated that it was "the seat of the soul." In fact, some cells in the pineal gland resemble primitive retinal (eye) cells.
What science does know about the pineal gland is that is regulates our body clocks, a.k.a circadian rhythm. It does this by secreting melatonin, a hormone, into the bloodstream during periods of darkness. Melatonin slows body processes down and promotes drowsiness, sleep and dreaming. When we travel long distances quickly, as we do with jet travel, the light levels are often reversed. Day becomes night, and night becomes day, and the sleep/wake cycle is disrupted. We become incredibly drowsy because our pineal gland is preparing us for sleep. As anyone who's been jetlagged knows, it often take a few days to adjust. Interestingly, one strategy to shorten jetlag is to expose oneself to bright daylight at the new destination. This bright light signals the pineal gland to re-allign itself to the new day/night cycle.
If, like the time-skippers, day and night shift unpredictably, perhaps the time-skippers come to experience a waking dreams, hallucinations and exhaustion. I don't think the pineal gland could account for the nosebleeds since it's buried so deep in the brain. Even if the blood vessels near it burst, the blood wouldn't leak from the nose.
Second part:
The basic idea here is that, like some other animals, the human brain has an organ with magnetite crystals in it that can orient the brain toward the poles. Animals like pigeons use this to migrate from place to place. Magnetite is a form of iron that is magnetic, and if the island keeps jumping around in space, perhaps the constant re-aligning of the magnetite molecules towards the poles damages the brain. This is pretty fringe science but it's interesting. There is an article here:
http://www.affs.org/html/biomagnetism.html
Third part: Something that is known to cause nosebleeds is constant and extreme fluctuation in barometric pressure, for examples in diving and climbing planes as well as deep-sea diving. This possible cause raises the question, when the time-skippers move, do they "fall" from a height, do they pass through the deep ocean? Is air-pressure change associated with moving through time? The change in pressure could also account for them grabbing their heads and ears. The feeling may be like diving into a deep pool, or taking off in a plane without equalizing the pressure in the ear. It would be quite painful and could account for the nosebleeds
Conclusion:
Although, in isolation, the pineal gland, magnetite crystals and sudden and extreme changes in barometric pressure can't cause all the symptoms we see, together, they could account for many of the symptoms of time sickness we see. Furthermore, things such as changes sudden changes in air pressure could be a clue to how they move through spacetime. Theory by Ginger Doggie
1) A link between the time-skippers, Sawyer, Juliette, Miles, Charlotte, and perhaps eventually Faraday and Jin, constantly shifting day/night cycle and "extreme jetlag,"
2) A link between the constantly shifting physical location of the time-skippers, the disorientation they experience
3) The link between nosebleeds, the headaches and acute pain and sudden changes in barometric pressure.
First part:
Traditionally, the pineal gland, a pea-sized gland located at the eyeline in the centre of the brain has been a "mystery gland." It wasn't known how it worked, and to some extent, is still new to science. Ancient cultures linked it to the third eye, the seat of consciousness. For example, Rene Descartes speculated that it was "the seat of the soul." In fact, some cells in the pineal gland resemble primitive retinal (eye) cells.
What science does know about the pineal gland is that is regulates our body clocks, a.k.a circadian rhythm. It does this by secreting melatonin, a hormone, into the bloodstream during periods of darkness. Melatonin slows body processes down and promotes drowsiness, sleep and dreaming. When we travel long distances quickly, as we do with jet travel, the light levels are often reversed. Day becomes night, and night becomes day, and the sleep/wake cycle is disrupted. We become incredibly drowsy because our pineal gland is preparing us for sleep. As anyone who's been jetlagged knows, it often take a few days to adjust. Interestingly, one strategy to shorten jetlag is to expose oneself to bright daylight at the new destination. This bright light signals the pineal gland to re-allign itself to the new day/night cycle.
If, like the time-skippers, day and night shift unpredictably, perhaps the time-skippers come to experience a waking dreams, hallucinations and exhaustion. I don't think the pineal gland could account for the nosebleeds since it's buried so deep in the brain. Even if the blood vessels near it burst, the blood wouldn't leak from the nose.
Second part:
The basic idea here is that, like some other animals, the human brain has an organ with magnetite crystals in it that can orient the brain toward the poles. Animals like pigeons use this to migrate from place to place. Magnetite is a form of iron that is magnetic, and if the island keeps jumping around in space, perhaps the constant re-aligning of the magnetite molecules towards the poles damages the brain. This is pretty fringe science but it's interesting. There is an article here:
http://www.affs.org/html/biomagnetism.html
Third part: Something that is known to cause nosebleeds is constant and extreme fluctuation in barometric pressure, for examples in diving and climbing planes as well as deep-sea diving. This possible cause raises the question, when the time-skippers move, do they "fall" from a height, do they pass through the deep ocean? Is air-pressure change associated with moving through time? The change in pressure could also account for them grabbing their heads and ears. The feeling may be like diving into a deep pool, or taking off in a plane without equalizing the pressure in the ear. It would be quite painful and could account for the nosebleeds
Conclusion:
Although, in isolation, the pineal gland, magnetite crystals and sudden and extreme changes in barometric pressure can't cause all the symptoms we see, together, they could account for many of the symptoms of time sickness we see. Furthermore, things such as changes sudden changes in air pressure could be a clue to how they move through spacetime. Theory by Ginger Doggie
