The Apollo–Soyuz and Spacelab programs ended in 1976, and there would be a five-year hiatus in American crewed spaceflight until the flight of the Space Shuttle.
[3][4] The Soviet Union developed vital technologies involving long-term human life in free-fall on the Salyut and later Mir space stations.
The evolution of the computer produced an interesting duality in the physical sciences at this period — analogue recording technology had reached its peak and was incredibly sophisticated.
The changes and attitude of social concern regarding science in the 1970s was addressed by Warren Weaver, who said that "Scientific theories cannot be rigidly deterministic.
Notable home computers released in North America of the era are the Apple II, the TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and Atari 400/800 and the NEC PC-8001 in Japan.
Soon after GTE and AT&T began experiments to transmit sound and image data using fiber optics, and transformed the communications industry.
After 1973 both the United States and Europe turned away from the large and heavy mainstream automobiles, and towards lightweight, fuel-efficient and environmentally-conscious vehicles, already beginning to be produced by Japan.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI of 1974 made the concept of a performance hatchback part of automotive mainstream thinking, though it had many precedents.
The United States lagged badly in the development of compact and fuel-efficient vehicles, a side effect of industrial inexperience on the part of the manufacturers in Detroit.