Note the dates that all of these US scientists started their careers -- all began their first non-training jobs in the mid-to-late 1970s. This batch of winners is amongst the last generation of US scientists to have stable scientific funding.<p>Starting in the early 1980s, the US began to play political games with research budgets, and since then it's been feast or famine. Whole generations of trainees have been doomed to underemployment, faculty positions have disappeared, and a career in academic science has gone from a feasible choice for smart college students, to a long-shot on par with becoming a professional athlete.<p>This batch of winners is a reminder that in a decade or two, we'll be wondering why the US doesn't win Nobel prizes anymore.