Electronics is so 20th century. Initially it was a moniker for the field of science that uses or controls the flow of a stream of electrons to carry out some practical task. Over time, though, it has spawned a smorgasbord of words that end in the suffix -onics. But which will be the one to replace it?

Photonics: This discipline uses photons of visible and infra-red light for tasks such as transmitting information, using lasers and fibre optics-which carry a much higher volume of information caompared to electrons flowing through copper. Number of hits on Pub Med: 928 Earliest record on Pub Med: Clinics in podriatic medicine and surgery, Oct. 1987

Biophotonics: A combination of biology and photonics. Researchers in this field draw on concepts from both to build microscopes better at peering inside living cells. Number of hits on PubMed: 99 Earliest record on Pub Med: Frontiers of medical and biological engineering, 1996

Bioelectronics: Though not a recent coinage, look to see more of this term in the future, as scientists in physics, biology, and chemistry work together more and more. Number of hits on PubMed: 128 Earliest record on Pub Med: Suom Laakaril (Finnish), Nov. 1966

Spintronics: Researchers in this discipline use another quantum property of the electron, called quantum spin, to encode and transmit information. Disk drive heads already use spintronics to read from and write to memory, but researchers promise faster microchips that give off less heat, and computers that boot up instantly. Number of hits on PubMed: 71 Earliest record on Pub Med: Physical Review Letters, Jun. 2000

Nanophotonics: An expected outcome when “nano-” meets photonics. Since much of photonics already takes place at the nano-scale, this neologism seems redundant. Number of hits on PubMed: 27 Earliest record on Pub Med: Organic Letters, Nov. 2001

Plasmonics: In a review paper in Science last month, the author argues plasmon could be used in computer chips to carry information faster than regular wires. Number of hits on PubMed: 16 Earliest record on Pub Med: Science, Nov. 2004