I found some more interesting things about these numbers... thanks to a thread that was here the other day.. and now I can't seem to find it...

hmmm...

here's what I find interesting... if you assume that these numbers are ATOMIC NUMBERS of elements they do have some relevance to the show...

4 ~ Beryllium, Crystal Structure: "Hexagonal" , Uses : spacecraft, missiles, aircraft (airplane?)

8 ~ Oxygen, Crystal Structure: Cubic, Uses: supports life (what's the shape of the hatch? or the bunker bellow the hatch?)

15 ~ Phosphorus, Crystal Structure: Monoclinic , Uses: fertilizers, detergents (it's a non-metal and can be a gas... so ... Monster... oh... and Henry Gale owned a non-metallic mining company... hmmm... mining for something maybe? need some strong electromagnetic bunkers to pull non metals from the ground?)

16 ~ Sulfur , Crystal Structure: Orthorhombic, Uses: matches, gunpowder, medicines. (hmmm... this one is hard to relate... the black rock... the gunpowder being used to heal charlie... excessive use of guns on the island... something we haven't seen yet.

23 ~ Vanadium, Chrystal Structure : Cubic , Uses : catalyst, dye, color-fixer ( this one is even harder to associate with the show.. but... it does apparently produce a MAGNETIC field... )

42 ~ Molybdenum, Crystal Structure: Cubic, Uses: aircraft, missiles ( well this one is hard.... I find it funny how these numbers start with uses for aircraft and missles... and ends with aircraft and missles.... but it's apparently associated with plants and soil... the island has lots of plants and soil...)

108 ~ What the heck... it is the sum... and it is the time in the countdown for the bunker computer... ~ Hassium , Crystal Structure: Unknown , Uses: No uses known , It is a MAN MADE Element... It's named after a german state called Hessen... and was founded in the city of Darmstadt (dharma?) just look up these names to help me out here...

I looked up alot of this useless stuff using http://www.chemicalelements.com and google.. and wikipedia... I am tired.. and no longer want to research..if some else feels compelled to go farther... please do.. I do really think there is some deeper signifigance here...

Yes, I miss the numbers. There was a lot of research done on the numbers back in season 1. They seemed to show up in a lot of the episodes. But then I read about an interview with the producers where they said that there was no hidden meaning behind the numbers and we probably never be told what they meant. I'll have to see if I can find that thread. It was on another board.

I don't understand this statement on elemental oxygen. Individual atoms, which is what 8 represents, don't have a defined crystal structure. Oxygen does not exist in a free state except as a diatomic molecule, that is 2 atoms bound together. Oxygen couldn't have a true crystalline structure unless you froze it to a solid and I'm not sure that's even possible since it has to be chilled very far below zero to even liquefy it. I certainly would never exist as a liquid or solid in "real life." Of course, that doesn't change its atomic number so if these are references to elements, the state in which they exist must not matter.

__________________
Things fall apart, the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

--Lines 2-6, "The Second Coming" by Wm. Butler Yeats