\tangent it's curious how Einstein made amazing discoveries in youth, and nothing later. Is it because he aged? Did he move too far from intuition to formalism? Or was there just nothing fundamental left to discover, that could be discovered with the data available? (aka reachable low hanging fruit)
Probably the last, since no one has topped him yet... and physics departments have shrunk over time.
OTOH, to your specific point, research has become more directed; funding is in specific areas. Einstein himself had his initial insights outside a university context. Feynmann's diagrams developed when he decided to just "play" - i.e. outside his proper research.
I like to think there is gold just a step or two off the beaten path - but have no evidence for this.
Probably the last, since no one has topped him yet... and physics departments have shrunk over time.
OTOH, to your specific point, research has become more directed; funding is in specific areas. Einstein himself had his initial insights outside a university context. Feynmann's diagrams developed when he decided to just "play" - i.e. outside his proper research.
I like to think there is gold just a step or two off the beaten path - but have no evidence for this.