I thought it might be fun to have a thread is for today's technology (either currently in or being introduced into general use, as well as laboratory experiments) that is catching up to, or even passing, Honorverse technology.
Computers are already much smaller than writers thought they would be (David is on record about this), although I don't think we haven't quite made it to molycirc levels yet (for products readily available for sale now, although research labs are probably getting closer).
This recent article on rewritable paper from the University of California caught my attention: Chemists fabricate novel rewritable paper.
It brought to mind papic (paper's replacement in the Honorverse):
Cauldron of Ghosts, Chapter 8 wrote:Then there was the desk. Jack McBryde’s desk had been a beehive of activity. There would have been three or four virtual screens up and running, and half the desk would have been covered with slips and sheets of papic. Jack had been fond of the old-fashioned way of taking notes.
“I don’t know why but I think better when I’m chewing on an idea I’ve written down my-self.” He’d given Lajos a grin and added: “Would you believe I’ve even been to the paper exhibit in the Museum of Science and Technology?”
“What’s ‘paper’?” Lajos had asked.
Jack had picked up a sheet of papic. “It’s what they used to use instead of this. Looks just like it—they let me pick one up—but it feels a little different. Coarser. They made it out of pulped wood, you know.”
Lajos had made a face. “Sounds awfully unsanitary.”
“Oh, the paper was safe enough. The manufacturing process was destructive, though. Poisoned the environment like you wouldn’t believe. Once they figured out a way to make plastic biodegradable they got rid of paper.”
What other examples of today's technology catching up to or passing Honorverse technology do you know of, that the rest of us might not yet have heard of?