Well you are right that these articles tend to be overly optimistic, but I wouldn't say that it never happens. The most conspicuous example I can think of is:

Well you are right that these articles tend to be overly optimistic, but I wouldn't say that it never happens. The most conspicuous example I can think of is: Giant MagnetoResistance (GMR) read heads. These went from a laboratory discovery to a widely adopted practical technology in about ~10-12 years. It's discoverers were given the 2007 nobel prize in physics. There are many other smaller profile examples from the materials processing and photonics industries. Exponential growth in computing power / storage depends on fast tracking these kind of discoveries.