Dharma Initiative "Swan Station" Logo

The Dharma Initiative is a fictional research project featured in the American television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". During the Lost Experience it was revealed that "DHARMA" is an acronym for Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... LOST redirects here. ... The second season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 21, 2005 and concluded on May 24, 2006. ... List of Lost episodes Orientation is the 27th episode of Lost. ... The Lost Experience was an alternate reality game that was part of the American television drama Lost. ... For other uses, see Heuristic (disambiguation). ...

Background

Title card from a Dharma Initiative orientation film featured in the Lost episode "Orientation"

The Survivors of the Oceanic flight 815 stumble upon a mysterious hatch that eventually is shown to be part of an elaborate abandoned research facility known as the Dharma Initiative. Throughout several episodes of Lost, aspects of the Dharma Initiative and the fate of its members are revealed. In a damaged film reel, it is revealed that the origins of the Dharma initiative go back to the 1970s when, at the University of Michigan, doctoral candidates Karen and Gerald DeGroot founded the Dharma Initiative with financial backing from the Hanso Foundation. The survivors learn that Dharma brought together "scientists and free thinkers" from around the globe at a "large-scale communal research compound" to conduct research in various disciplines, including meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and a sixth discipline that the film begins to identify as "utopian social-" before being cut off. The complex contains several stations throughout the Island and the exact nature of the facility is shrouded in mystery. ImageMetadata File history File links Dharma_initiative_logo_video. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Dharma_initiative_logo_video. ... LOST redirects here. ... List of Lost episodes Orientation is the 27th episode of Lost. ... The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (U of M, U-M, UM or simply Michigan) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Michigan. ... The Hanso Foundation was formed by arms purveyor Alvar Hanso, who turned his attention from keeping the world safe through the development of sophisticated weapons systems to focus instead on the development of new technologies to create a brighter future for all humanity. ... // Meteorology (from Greek: μετέωρον, meteoron, high in the sky; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... Psychological science redirects here. ... Early parapsychological research employed the use of Zener cards in experiments designed to test for possible telepathic communication. ... Zoology (from Greek: ζῴον, zoion, animal; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... This box:      Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field: a field which exerts a force on particles that possess the property of electric charge, and is in turn affected by the presence and motion of those particles. ... See Utopia (disambiguation) for other meanings of this word Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. ...

At least one of the stations appears to have been used for psychological testing purposes. American behaviorism psychologist and Walden Two author B.F. Skinner is cited as an influence on the DeGroots' work. Skinner's psychological studies are well known and suggests that the purpose of at least one of the stations may simply have been to test the obedience of the subjects. When the survivors of the plane crash discover the hatch they find much-needed supplies and equipment to aid them while on the island. They are also very curious regarding the reason for the research station and begin using the remaining functioning equipment to attempt to contact the outside world and secure rescue. A psychologist is an expert in psychology, the systematic investigation of the human body, including behavior, cognition, and affect. ... Walden Two (1948) is a novel by B.F. Skinner which described a fictional utopia in which a thousand people have obtained a good life modeled after Thoreaus experiment in living near Walden pond. ... Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 _ August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist and author. ...

Dharma's food supply, used by the survivors

Eventually, it is apparent that some tragedy befell the workers stationed on the Island when nearly all Dharma Initiative employees stationed on the island are "purged" by the "Hostiles" (the name given to the "Others" by the Dharma Initiative), who were present on the island long before the Initiative arrived.^[1] The Others are shown to have been responsible for killing those living in the Dharma Initiative camp with deadly gas and taking over many of Dharma's stations and The Barracks. In season 4, this is revealed to have occurred in 1992. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3504 × 2336 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3504 × 2336 pixel, file size: 3. ... The Others (also known as Them, The Natives, and The Hostiles) are a group of fictional characters who inhabit the island in the American television series Lost; most of whom serve as the antagonists to the series main characters. ...

The Lost Experience ARG revealed that the Dharma Initiative set out to find a way to change the "Valenzetti Equation", a mathematical formula designed to predict the end of the world. Thomas Mittelwerk, a member of the Hanso Foundation, later says, however, that "The Dharma Initiative failed". The Lost Experience was an alternate reality game that was part of the American television drama Lost. ... Alternate Reality, see Alternate Reality (computer game). ... Gary Troup is a fictional character and fictional author that is part of the narrative of the television series Lost and the related Lost Experience. ...

Research stations

The Dharma Initiative has placed several research stations around the island, which take the form of hidden, underground facilities or bunkers. The first to be discovered by the survivors is "Station 3" or "The Swan" which they refer to informally as "the hatch". It was found by John Locke, one of the survivors. They occupy it until the end of season 2, which culminated with the apparent destruction of the station. Eight additional stations have since been visited: "The Pearl", "The Arrow", "The Staff", "The Flame", "The Hydra", "The Looking Glass", "The Tempest", and "The Orchid". Each of these facilities has a particular logo associated with it: an octagon with an interior based on the bagua design, with a differing symbol at the center (pearl, swan, hydra, flame, caduceus (staff), arrow, and white rabbit, also known as the looking glass). A scientific method or process is considered fundamental to the scientific investigation and acquisition of new knowledge based upon physical evidence. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect oneself. ... For other uses, see Logo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Octagon (disambiguation). ... For other uses, such as the Peruvian province or town, see Bagua (disambiguation). ...

The following stations are listed by station number. Stations with an unknown station number will be listed in order of appearance.

Station 1: The Arrow

As of the fourth season finale, the purpose of the Arrow is unknown. It appears to the tail section survivors to have been used for storage and restocking. In "The Man Behind the Curtain" and "Cabin Fever", Horace Goodspeed dons the patch of the Arrow Station, he is also labeled as a mathematician. This leads viewers to believe that mathematics was one of the station's purposes. Lost (season 3) List of Lost episodes The Man Behind the Curtain is the twentieth episode of the third season of Lost, the 67th episode of the series. ... This article is about the psychological condition. ... For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ...

The interior of The Arrow consists of only a few rooms. At the time of the habitation of the tail section survivors, the station is long abandoned with a filthy interior and only a few objects inside. Electricity still runs in The Arrow but only powers a couple of lamps and bare light bulbs. Electrical conduits and exposed wires run along the interior walls. The rooms are barren, with concrete floors and walls. At least one of the rooms however, appears to have been painted off-white with a teal border running along the bottom of the walls, but the paint has peeled and chipped.The word "quarantine" also appears on the inside of the station's door.

Station 3: The Swan

The Swan was a laboratory for the Dharma Initiative's research on electromagnetism. According to the station's orientation film, an "incident" occurred early in the station's experiments. This event caused a consistent build-up of electromagnetic energy, which resulted in a change of the station's focus: a two-member crew, replaced every 540 days, were since instructed to enter a numeric code into a microcomputer terminal every 108 minutes. The station is equipped with a split-flap display timer, which is interfaced to a microcomputer terminal and connected to an alarm system. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This box:      Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field: a field which exerts a force on particles that possess the property of electric charge, and is in turn affected by the presence and motion of those particles. ... The Commodore 64 was one of the most popular microcomputers of its era, and is the best selling model of home computer of all time. ... Section of a split-flap display board at Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof (taken April 2005). ...

The station is almost entirely underground, except for a "hatch" entrance shaft and a concealed door. The word "quarantine" is spray-painted on the inside of the hatch, and the numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) are inscribed into its metallic exterior edge. The station is illuminated by powerful lamps shining through windows as a substitute for sunlight, with a main work area resembling a geodesic dome. A strong but localized magnetic field emanates from behind a wall, composed of rough concrete that appears to have previously been a corridor to another section of "the hatch". The station also has several internal blast doors. For other uses see Quarantine (disambiguation) Quarantine is voluntary or compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. ... Spray painting is painting using a device that sprays the paint. ... The television show Lost includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena, usually concerning coincidences, synchronicity, temporal and spatial anomalies, paradoxes and other puzzling phenomena. ... Prism splitting light High Resolution Solar Spectrum Sunlight in the broad sense is the total spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. ... Spaceship Earth in Epcot Center at Walt Disney World is perhaps one of the most famous examples of a large scale geodesic sphere. ... A blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from bomb blasts. ...

It is stocked with food, a record player with a collection of old LPs, a small library, an armory complete with automatic rifles and other firearms, a washer and dryer, a shower, and bunk beds. Edison cylinder phonograph from about 1899 The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. ...

According to the feature "Access Granted" of Lost: The Complete Third Season, DHARMA drilled the earth and hit an area with large contained electromagnetic buildup. They broke into the anomaly which allowed the field to leak out. The Swan was built over this area to act as a sort of cork. DHARMA then came up with a scheme to "dam" the leak but with the drawback that the field built up behind the dam and would eventually break it. The failsafe permanently "sealed" the leak.

Station 4: The Flame

The Flame is a communication station. It uses sonar and satellite technologies to communicate with the outside world and other stations on the island. It can also order a pallet drop. A wooden pallet A plastic pallet with nine legs, which can be lifted from all four sides A Pallet can also be a small, hard, or temporary bed (a term heavily used in the southern United States to describe a makeshift bed consisting of a blanket and a pillow on...

Unlike the other stations, The Flame is not an underground bunker, but rather a wood-frame bungalow. A large satellite dish is on the roof. Inside the station is a living area, kitchen, and computer room. Below the building is a large basement containing supplies, including a library of Dharma Initiative operations manuals. Sky Digital mini-dish Astros mini-dish. Special dish for up to 16 satellite positions (Ku-band) Satellite dish antenna for C-Band Satellite Dishes installed on an apartment complex A satellite dish is a type of parabolic antenna designed with the specific purpose of transmitting signals to and...

In "Enter 77" Kate, Sayid and John enter "The Flame" and find that it has been occupied by The Others and is being operated by Mikhail Bakunin. "The Flame" was destroyed through a self-destruction system, which was activated by John entering "77" into a computer terminal. The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... For the 19th century anarchist and feminist, see Kate Austin. ... Sayid Jarrah (Arabic: سعيد جراح) is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Naveen Andrews. ... John Locke, also known on the show as Jeremy Bentham, is most often referred to by his surname Locke. He is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Terry OQuinn. ... The Others (also known as Them and The Hostiles) are a group of fictional characters who inhabit the island in the American television series Lost and who serve as the antagonists to the series main characters. ...

Station 5: The Pearl

The Pearl itself is a psychological experiment. While its orientation film asserts the purpose of those stationed in the Pearl is to monitor and record the activities of participants in Dharma Initiative projects, scientists in the Pearl station are under surveillance. Experimental psychology approaches psychology as one of the natural sciences, and therefore assumes that it is susceptible to the experimental method. ...

The station consists of a three-by-three bank of television sets, two chairs and a computer, hooked to a printer. On the wall there is a pneumatic tube which the orientation film stated was used to transport notebooks supposedly to another Dharma location, but as discovered in "Live Together, Die Alone," the tube goes nowhere, dumping all of the notebooks in an open field on the island. Pneumatic tubes, also known as capsule pipelines or Lamson tubes, are systems in which cylindrical containers are propelled through a network of tubes by compressed air or by vacuum. ... List of Lost episodes Live Together, Die Alone is the 47th episode of Lost. ...

According to the orientation film, two-person teams, working eight-hour shifts over a three-week period, are to watch the video displays and take notes on their observations. Every action, regardless of how subtle, is to be recorded into notebooks by the Pearl's team members. This was almost certainly a wholly pointless exercise aimed at testing obedience, as in the psychological experiments of Stanley Milgram. Stanley Milgram Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was a psychologist at Yale University, Harvard University and the City University of New York. ...

Station 6: The Orchid

A video aired at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con shows footage of an orientation video for Station 6 ("The Orchid"), in which Edgar Halliwax explains that, contrary to Dharma's statements that the station was for botanical research, the station is used for researching a "Casimir effect" exhibited by the Island. Comic-Con International is an annual comic book convention held in San Diego, California. ... From left to right: Hurley, Claire, Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Jin, Sun, Juliet, Locke, Sayid, Ben and Desmond This article contains character information for the American drama/adventure television series Lost. ... In physics, the Casimir effect is a physical force exerted between separate objects, which is due to neither charge, gravity, nor the exchange of particles, but instead is due to resonance of all-pervasive energy fields in the intervening space between the objects. ...

The film begins with Halliwax having stage makeup applied to his face. He is then given a rabbit and asked to hold it with its head facing the other way, thus revealing the number '15' marked on its flank. Later in the video, something falls to the floor near Halliwax, and the camera reveals another rabbit on shelving in the background, also numbered '15.' Amongst a sudden commotion, Halliwax demands that the rabbits be separated and asks a fellow scientist, "How long did you set the shift?" She replies, "Negative 20 minutes." Halliwax then turns to the camera operator and demands that the camera be turned off, countermanding previous orders that it be kept running at all times. As per usual in Lost mythology, no explanation has been given for the rabbits, the dangers of allowing them near each other, or why this particular incident should not be filmed.

In the Episode "The Other Woman", John Locke serves Ben rabbit to eat. Ben asks John if there was a number on the rabbit. Locke responds, "what?" and Ben says, "never mind". John Locke, also known on the show as Jeremy Bentham, is most often referred to by his surname Locke. He is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Terry OQuinn. ... Benjamin Ben Linus is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Michael Emerson. ...

Although originally in question, the producers have confirmed that the video is, in fact, canon, and holds relevance to the show itself. Such as the fact that both Benjamin Linus and the polar bear appear in the Tunisian desert, as if through the use of a device handling and harnessing the effect in a way much like a teleportation device. Canon, in the context of a fictional universe, comprises those novels, stories, films, etc. ...

In the final three episodes of the fourth season, "There's No Place Like Home Parts 1, 2, and 3", "The Orchid" station appears at first to be an abandoned green house. Ben then reveals a hidden elevator that takes people down to the actual Orchid station. Ben and Locke both enter the station which is hidden deep underground. The station's interior resembles that of a furnished laboratory, similar to The Swan station. The most unique feature of "The Orchid" is a small chamber adjacent to an electrical anomaly. It was revealed in a station video that the anomaly chamber could warp time and space. Ben Linus eventually blew a hole in the chamber's wall (by filling it with metal objects, something the video warned against), leading to a small tunnel system. The tunnels led deeper underground via ladders and ended in a chamber sealed by a wall of ice. Behind the ice sheet was a sub-zero chamber covered in frost and containing a wheel. This wheel has the ability to move the island, and was used by Ben to do so after he descended into the chamber wearing a parka, cutting his arm in the process. The eight-spoked dharma wheel is a common symbol in Buddhist iconography, representing the collective teachings of Buddha, known as the dharma. ...

As Ben completes the rotation of the wheel, sunlight creeps through the holes in the wheel, despite being at the bottom of a shaft, and an eerie sound and flash of white light soon envelops the entire island. In a previous episode's flash forward, Ben is depicted as spontaneously materializing in the middle of the Tunisian desert, wearing the same parka and having an injured arm.

Station ?: The Staff

The Staff is a medical research station. Much of its original purpose was for the pregnant women who were taken to give birth and/or die.

The main entrance stairwell terminates at a circular doorway within the Staff. Connected to this doorway are two hallways on either side, giving the station the shape of a “V”. At the end of the right hallway is an operating room, consisting of built-in and overhead cabinets and surgical lights mounted to the ceiling. A nursery is located in the Staff and doorways leading into both hallways of the station. The walls of the nursery are painted baby blue. A locker room is located in the left hallway of the Staff. The room contains at least two rows of double-tier and one row of single-tier lockers with the Staff logo emblazoned on the locker doors. Hidden inside one of the lockers is a switch that unlocks a hidden vault behind a group of lockers that contains all of the medical equipment and nursery furniture that was seen by Claire in her flashback, including an ultrasound machine. Furthermore, there is another hidden room that Sun notices. It is a room, as told by Juliet, used for the mothers that have given birth on the island.

Station ?: The Hydra

The Hydra is a zoological research station located on another island which is about twice the size of Alcatraz Island, two miles off the island the survivors are on. As seen in the fourth season finale, this island is directly connected to the main island, as this as well vanished after Ben activated the Orchid's hidden device. Zoology (from Greek: ζῴον, zoion, animal; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... For other uses, see Alcatraz (disambiguation). ...

It has a section above ground on the coast and another section underwater. The Hydra facility has cages outside the station in the jungle. An underwater complex was once used as an aquarium, which housed sharks and dolphins. This underwater complex may be linked with the shark with the Dharma logo on its rear fin seen in the season 2 episode, Adrift. There is also a quarry somewhere on the Hydra island where Kate and Sawyer were forced to work. Look up cage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Shark (disambiguation). ... This article is about the dolphin mammal. ... Adrift is the 26th episode of Lost. ...

The polar bears which the survivors encounter could possibly have been caged in the Hydra as Tom had said to Sawyer that the bears were able to solve the feeding mechanism of the cage with ease. Charlie had stated that the polar bears were the Einsteins of the bear community.

In the season 4 episode Confirmed Dead, a leather collar bearing the Dharma Hydra symbol is found near a polar bear skeleton in the Tunisian desert. In both cases, it appears that the Dharma Initaitive were experimenting to see how quickly species adapt by locating a polar bear in tropical and desert conditions. (Or appeared there by means much like the way the island teleports/reappears.) This article is about the animal. ... For other uses, see Skeleton (disambiguation). ...

Station ?: The Looking Glass

The Looking Glass is located on the sea-bed at approximately 20 meters depth, some 200 meters from the Beach. The Station was used to jam communications going to and from the island. The station received power from the cable that Sayid discovered in the episode "Solitary".

The Station's Logo is a Rabbit, a reference to The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Its logo can be seen in the episode "Greatest Hits" when Charlie swims down to it.

The Others were under the impression that the station was flooded. Only Ben knew that the station was still in operation and there were people working there.

It was on this station that in the Season 3 finale "Through The Looking Glass", that Charlie Pace discovered that the rescue boat linked to Naomi, the parachute woman, was not set out by Desmond Hume's ex-girlfriend Penny Widmore. Charlie locks the door to the control room when Mikhail shatters the porthole window, subsequently flooding the room. This prevents Desmond from getting to Charlie, thereby fulfilling Desmond's latest "premonition" (Charlie was meant to drown in the control room after disabling the jamming equipment). He quickly writes "Not Penny's Boat" on his hand and shows Desmond through the glass on the door.

Station ?: The Tempest

The Tempest is a biochemical and electrical station on the island. It is used to control poisonous gases from traveling throughout the island. Every day before his death, Goodwin would travel to The Tempest to press a button to prevent deadly gases from escaping. However, Ana Lucia killed him, so the gases built up. That is supposedly why Daniel and Charlotte traveled to The Tempest in "The Other Woman". They said they needed to press the button to save everyone.

Also, this station feeds electricity to the other DHARMA stations.

This station was first seen in the episode "The Other Woman".

As mythology on Lost

List of Lost episodes Everybody Hates Hugo is the 28th episode of Lost. ... The Other 48 Days is the 32nd episode of Lost. ... The Other 48 Days is the 32nd episode of Lost. ... Lockdown is the 41st episode of Lost. ... Episode chronology All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues is the 11th episode of Lost. ... Man of Science, Man of Faith is the 25th episode of Lost. ... Lost (season 3) List of Lost episodes Flashes Before Your Eyes is the eighth episode of the third season of Lost. ... List of Lost episodes Orientation is the 27th episode of Lost. ... For other uses, see Cost of living (disambiguation). ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... List of Lost episodes One of Us[1] is the sixteenth episode of the third season of Lost. ... Lockdown is the 41st episode of Lost. ... ? is the 45th episode of Lost. ... List of Lost episodes Exposé[1] is the fourteenth episode of the third season of Lost. ... List of Lost episodes Exposé[1] is the fourteenth episode of the third season of Lost. ... ? is the 45th episode of Lost. ... Comic-Con International is an annual comic book convention held in San Diego, California. ... Comic-Con International is an annual comic book convention held in San Diego, California. ... Maternity Leave is the 39th episode of Lost. ... Maternity Leave is the 39th episode of Lost. ... Lockdown is the 41st episode of Lost. ... A Tale of Two Cities is the season premiere of the third season of Lost. ... A Tale of Two Cities is the season premiere of the third season of Lost. ... Stranger in a Strange Land is the ninth episode of the third season of Lost. ... A Tale of Two Cities is the season premiere of the third season of Lost. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... List of Lost episodes Through the Looking Glass is the 22nd episode of the third season – 69th episode overall – of the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost. ... This article contains a trivia section. ...

In popular culture

A Dharma-related Easter Egg in Half-Life 2: Episode 2.

A Dharma logo in Cloverfield.

In Half-Life 2: Episode Two, an easter egg is present: an inaccessible room during the sixth chapter, "Our Mutual Fiend", contains a computer with a computer terminal with the numbers entered and a logo for the White Forest base. The room was inserted at the request of Gabe Newell, who promised to insert a reference to Lost in response to Half-Life references in Lost's first season. For the creature of the film, see Cloverfield (creature). ... A virtual Easter egg is a hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. ... Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and managing director of game development company Valve Corporation. ... It has been suggested that Lost: The Journey be merged into this article or section. ...

In a scene of the U.S. version of The Office episode "Initiation," Dwight asks Ryan "What is the DHARMA initiative?" This can be seen on the season 3 DVD. He also asks this question to the character Andy in a deleted scene in the third season finale. The Office is an Emmy Award-winning American television comedy that debuted on NBC as a midseason replacement on March 24, 2005. ... Initiation is the fifth episode of the third season of The Office (U.S. version). ...

In the 2008 movie Cloverfield, which was produced by J.J. Abrams and the team that made Lost, a slight variation on the Dharma Initiative logo can briefly be seen in the opening of the movie. It is during the introduction of the film which states where the "video" about to be shown came from. It is only visible for a few frames on the lower right side of screen. It looks almost identical to the Pearl station logo. For the creature of the film, see Cloverfield (creature). ...

In the episode "Chuck Versus the Helicopter" in the NBC series Chuck, Chuck makes the statement, "Oceanic Flight 815 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile...". Chuck is an American action-comedy television program created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. ...

References