It seems to me that technological developments and empirical scientific breakthroughs come in cycles, technology making it cheaper to experiment, science reducing cost of new technical developments. I would be happy to hear about pointers to any source discussing such a tech/science cycle.

I feel our generation (I am in my mid-forties) lived through enormous technological advancements but not as many scientific breakthroughs as the previous generation. So maybe it is not surprising that we are suddenly more likely to have breakthroughs in basic science.

I hope there is a phase transition to science mode now, so we that have a chance to solve the hard pressing issues.