Physicist Mildred Dresselhaus with a student; a study has found that more experienced scientists produce more persistently disruptive science than their younger peers.Credit: Micheline Pelletier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Experienced scientists produce 'disruptive' work less often than early-career researchers, but when they do, their innovations are more likely to have a lasting effect, according to a study1 published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on 19 October. Previous research has suggested that experienced scientists are less likely to produce disruptive work2 ' discoveries that overturn established foundations, rather than building on them incrementally ' than are those starting their careers. The latest findings challenge the view that scientists become less innovative as they age, says Sam Arts, who studies scientific and technological innovation at KU Leuven in Antwerp, Belgium. The latest study analysed more than 11 million papers published...
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