Looking at your definition of "fundamental" , i think the thing that broke , was that in the 70's we already had too much fundamental technologies that required

Looking at your definition of "fundamental" , i think the thing that broke , was that in the 70's we already had too much fundamental technologies that required huge amount of human capital to "refine" the technologies into really useful things(an extremely hard task) , and of course the market pulled them , together with the issues of basic research we all know. As for fundamental new things: 1. There's some research in fmri neurofeedback and magnetic stimulation on how to train/affect highly targeted brain regions to achieve variety of psychological effects including spiritual effects that take experienced meditators years to achieve, achieved in short periods of time. 2. lab on chip technology enables you to measure "everything" in the blood .Could lead to complete and fully accurate diagnostics. See healthtell.com