How come after over 70 years we still use rockets to go to space? Why is there no newer and better technology

AS opposed to what?

New technology is no that easy to come up with.
It was 5 million years before we came up with a handle for the stone ax.

EVERY TIME NASA tries to launch a probe that has a nuclear power source on it, ignorant people SCREAM about how NASA or ESA would kill people with radiation poisoning if there was an accident at launch. The laws of motion are STILL the same as they were 70 years ago. It still takes the same amount of force to get mass out of Earth's gravity well. No matter what the technology that is used to get that mass into orbit or out of Earth's gravity well may be, the laws of physics are just the same now as they were whenever. Chemical reaction liquid or solid rockets are STILL the most economical way to get something out of Earth's gravity well. If you want better technology than there is now, create it. If Steven Jobs and his buddies could create Apple Inc. in a garage, you can do something similar yourself.

There is new and better technology. Today's rockets are more powerful, more efficient, more reliable, and less expensive than those around when space travel was just starting. What there isn't is new basic ideas.

The same thing holds for cars. We've been using internal combustion engines for over a century, but that doesn't mean that today's Ford Mondeo isn't vastly more advanced than the Ford Model T.

Newer and possibly better technologies are being investigated. However the limiting factor is the mass of propellant needed, and this must be carried by the vehicle.
The other important factor is a source of energy. If this can be ground based it would reduce the need for massive amounts of fuel and oxidant. However such a ground based energy source would be a powerful weapon in the wrong hands.

I guess we need to wait for fusion power to be developed.

Because the laws of physics haven't changed in 70 years. Conservation of momentum requires that if you want to go forwards in a vacuum, you have to throw mass backwards.

well maybe nobody wants to go there....that's the reason....and here is a reason why we don't want to travel in a rocket into the unknown....7 people died in this exploration!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_10T4UYpz…

They've improved a great deal. Also they're the best way we know of, and it is very expensive to experiment and come up with new technologies.

Rockets have evolved to be better and we have nothing better than them.

what newer and better technology did you have in mind?

because you youngsters haven't invented it yet... so get to it!!