Rupert Sheldrake is one of the world’s leading and most innovative biologists. He is best known for his theories on morphic resonance and morphic fields, which lead to a vision of a living, developing universe with its own inherent memory.

Here is a link to his brilliant and controversial talk Science Set Free - 10 dogmas of modern science, from the 2013 EU conference! The video was taken down by TED and YouTube after complaints from certain quarters. What did they have to fear? The censorship controversy sparked an internet firestorm in view of the negative implications for free speech and progressive science.

It seems no small irony that the solar system is used as a metaphor for diagrams of the atom, and that electromagnetic forces are known to hold the atom together, while the analogy is never reversed. Electromagnetic forces are considered of no significance on astronomical scales.

Part of the problem relates to the Standard Model, which is yet to reconcile many forces. As it stands it fails to account for gravity, and the particle responsible for mass, the elusive Higgs Boson, remains hypothetical. (Gravity is often described as a property of mass.)

The Standard model. From the site:

"Gravity is not yet part of this framework, and a central question of 21st century particle physics is the search for a quantum formulation of gravity that could be included in the Standard Model."

Both Quantum Theory (Particle physics) and Relativity (Space time continuum) are considered correct, and yet remain incompatible. It could be argued that neither are credible until a unified theory can be produced, and thus far most attempts are not looking promising. This is not to suggest that Plasma Cosmology has all the answers, but it highlights the fact that the door needs to be left open to alternative ideas.

Some have described Relativity as a theory about the ocean, and Quantum Theory as about the ripples, but problems in reconciling the two remain.

In truth, this Fourth Equation is too obvious to be named after anybody. It works like a mirror image of the third equation, Gauss’ Law, which relates to electric charge. The fourth equation says that the sum total of a magnetic field crossing over the surface of any sphere must always be zero.

The trouble is, there is no known particle that generates magnetic field the same way an electron generates electric field. Physicists remain hopeful of finding one, and in anticipation they have named it the magnetic monopole. However, as yet they have found absolutely nothing.

If magnetic monopoles are ever found, then the fourth equation will have to be modified to include magnetic charge. Faraday’s Law will also have to be modified to include magnetic current (magnetic monopoles flowing), just as Ampere’s Law includes electric current (electrons flowing).

To visualise this problem, imagine a sphere with a magnet inside. This law says that for every bit of magnetic field going out of the sphere, there must be an equal amount of magnetic field going back into the sphere. This is the same thing as saying every magnet must have both a north and a south pole. If you could cut a magnet in half and have just a north pole, you'd have just found the first magnetic monopole!

This is one of the great mysteries of physics and cosmology. Why, when the universe was created, did we get trillions of electrons, but, as far as we know, not a single magnetic monopole?

Ball lightning remains an enigma, and is still denied by some despite numerous eye witness accounts. It is almost certainly a plasma related phenomena.

It is a rare effect in which a glowing, drifting bubble of light, typically some eight inches in diameter, appears. On the very rare occasions it is seen, it often, though not always, follows a regular lightning strike. Many scientists used to contend that the glowing ball was merely the after-image seen by the witness after a regular lightning strike (A spot in your eye in other words). More and more scientists are beginning to accept the existence of ball lightning as a true electrical phenomenon, however.

In September 1949 William Sanborn was standing near a marsh in Yellowstone National Park when he saw a hazy patch of blue light sweep toward him. He estimated that it was over one hundred feet wide and almost a thousand feet long. Sanborn could feel his scalp tingle, and felt the snapping of tiny sparks as he brushed his hair with his hand, but obtained no shock from touching any object on the ground or outside his car.

Exactly what Sanborn experienced is unknown, although it does resemble a phenomenon known as Saint Elmo's Fire -- a glowing electrical halo that can envelope the mast of ships, airplane wings and church steeples during stormy weather. Earthquakes have also been known to generate electrical phenomena and Yellowstone is a geologically active region