School textbooks talk about three states of matter — liquid, gas and solid. Later, we learn that matter exists in fourth state also called plasma. Scientists have gone beyond this, and have identified fifth state of matter. Schools should revise their textbooks.

Liquid particles move freely and give them fluidity. Gases carry dispersed particles occupying the available space. Solid particles are organized and vibrate in fixed positions. Plasma state has loose electrons — a kind of soup and could be seen in lightning and the sun. It is not commonly observed in our daily life. Scientists were looking for any other state not covered by these four states.

Albert Einstein in 1920 together with physicist Satyendra Nath Bose predicted the fifth state of matter. In an experiment, they cooled bosons close to temperatures nearing absolute zero. At this temperature, the particles lost their individual identities. They acted as a super particle. It happened on account of so little energy. In the absence of energy, they do not move sufficiently. They become indistinguishable. They merge into a collective quantum state. The particle that was the outcome of this experiment was named Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC). This was confirmed seventy years later by Einstein-Bose-experiment in 1995. Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman managed to cool rubidium-87 atoms to millionths of a degree above absolute zero.

BECs could help us develop ultra-sensitive sensors which could record variations in magnetic fields, gravity and acceleration. They could help us in advanced quantum technologies and to find new materials.