Most Nobelists Were Younger Than Today's Average First Time NIH Grantee When They Did Their Breakthrough Research

This really tells you something about the calcification of scientific innovation in the U.S. From Rice University:

In the past 30 years, the average age of biomedical researchers has steadily increased. The average age of an investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) rose from 39 to 51 between 1980 and 2008. The aging of the biomedical workforce was even more apparent when looking at first-time NIH grantees. The average age of a new investigator was 42 in 2008, compared to 36 in...