Aging Scientists Shift From Disruption

A Science study of more than 12 million researchers (1960–2020) finds that as scientists age they become better at producing 'connective' novelty (recombining known ideas) but worse at producing disruptive, field‑rewriting work. The authors argue this reflects career‑anchoring to prior ideas: senior researchers notice new linkages among familiar concepts while younger scientists are more likely to break paradigms. — This changes how we should think about grantmaking, tenure, team composition, and institutional incentives—policies that concentrate prestige and funding on senior figures may systematically lower the rate of disruptive breakthroughs.