Aether theory is not only alive and well, it inundates every part of modern theoretical physics.

“The electromagnetic field behaves as if it were a collection of wheels, pullleys and fluids.” - James Clerk Maxwell

Maxwell’s equations were a description of the motions of an inviscid fluid which today we call a superfluid. Superfluid models of spacetime are a very prolific field today.

How superfluid vortex knots untie

Knot theory and topology comes from Kelvin’s development of ring vortex atoms that are a crucial part of aether theory.

String theory is closely related to JJ Thomson’s explanation of a mechanism for valence which is also related to Kelvin’s work on what are called “vortex filaments” which are something that spontaneously arise because of the motions of superfluids. I’d show pictures of Kelvin’s vortex atoms but they look the same as the more recent pictures above so I’ll just show some pictures of strings instead.

Special relativity directly descended from Fresnel’s aether drag prediction that was held up by the Fizeau experiment. Furthermore Kelvin’s work with MacCullagh’s aether eventually solved issues of elasticity in Maxwell’s equations which eventually, through Mie, led Hilbert to greatly contribute to completion of general relativity working with Einstein. (in fact General relativity can be loosely thought of as describing rotational motions of spacetime but don’t quote me on that)

The field of topology owes a great deal to the decades of hard work on hydrodynamics done by Kelvin and Tait. In 1924 on the anniversary of Kelvin’s birth Einstein called out the genesis of topology through Kelvin’s “circulation theorem.”

Further, it is hydrodynamic quantum analogs that are leading he way in showing a better model for quantum mechanics.

Unfortunately people in relativity theory are much more stuffy about analogies than those in quantum science so don’t even try to mention the many ways in which all the various new models are just hydrodynamic analogs under the covers. You might make one of them have a heart attack. (or they will want to burn you at the stake for heresy)

Let’s mention dark matter and dark energy quickly. It’s something throughout all space that we’ve never detected except by its effects and makes up 95% of reality….

(Shhh! @#$%^& Don’t say aether!!!)

"I remember quite well standing there transfixed as though stunned by the colossal import of the thing and blurted out - or so it seemed at the time: "Rutherford, this is transmutation: the thorium is disintegrating and transmuting itself into an argon gas." The words seemed to flash through me as if from some outside source. Rutherford shouted to me, in his breezy manner, "For Mike's sake Soddy, don't call it transmutation. They'll have our heads off as alchemists." - Frederick Soddy recounting the conversation with Rutherford at the time of the discovery of transmutation of elements.

History of the NeoClassical Interpretation of Quantum and Relativistic Physics(PDF)