Off the top of my head, they've made progress in quark-gluon plasma, discovering the AdS/CFT correspondence, and practical techniques for quantum computing. There's been enormous progress in computational methods, too. There's also been something very interesting going on with twistors. Oh, and 50 years ago quantum field theory was not on a formally sound footing, but now it is (not completely but it's closer). There's also a lot of progress in renormalization (RG group flow).

Oh, and don't forget about fifty years of Moore's law. We have solid state to thank for that.

I'm sure I could think of more if I gave it more time. The truth is that there have been no earthshattierng paradigm shifts in the last fifty years, but that's OK because they tend to happen once every couple centuries.

Topological materials are relatively new and increasingly promising for both technological and pure science reasons.

Fractional quantum hall effect is a massive one. All the action is in condensed matter. Somehow less newsworthy despite being closer to practical applications than high energy physics.

> Alcubierre drive maybe?

this is old physics, just another solution of the GR