I have been deeply studying the fourth state of matter and what some call the sixth state of matter which is bioplasma, but lately I have pondered on the middle piece ... the 5th state of matter. This 5th state called Bose-Einstein condensates was first seen in 1995 and is named after Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein who predicted it's existance in the 1920's. B-E condensates are gaseous superfluids cooled to temps very near absolute zero. At this state atoms move past one another without friction and can actually trap light releasing it when the state breaks down. Question one. If this 5th state of matter can trap light, is there a way to use it for purposes of energy, even though the atoms are only very slightly moving being near absolute zero? Question two is, just how many states of matter will we find in the near future? Is bioplama the next state to be recorded? I read this from an article given to me by a professor of mine and it had a different reference on the internet which is www.5th-state-of-matter.info or just google fifth state of matter.

By the way I actually tried to trap light when I was in elementary school. I saw that mirrors reflected light and that some mirrors allowed light to pass through it. I cut out these mirrors and glued them into a box hoping that the light would pass through the mirror and be trapped between the other side of the mirrors that reflected the light. I became really frustrated when I could not get it to work.

I don't know how many states of matter there are, but maybe if you can get your hands on some Bose-Einstein condensates your dream of trapping light could come true.

Could Ectoplasm be considered bioplasma? Because I can understand paranormal stuff and such. But when it comes to science, I can only kinda grasp it.

Depending on what you mean by "state of matter" there can be a VERY large number.

You have the classic solid, liquid, and gas that a lot of materials go through. At high pressures, a lot of materials also have a "superfluid" state where there is no boundary between the liquid and gas - as you heat it up it just gets less dense until it resembles a gas more than a liquid. At REALLY high pressures or low temperatures, you get degenerate matter where changing temperature does not change pressure (I think bose einstein condensates might be a special case of this at very low temperatures). And then, at very high densities you have neutron matter like in neutron stars. Dense hot degenerate matter and neutron matter aren't really made of atoms, and neither are the highest energy plasmas where atomic nuclei break down.