Nobel laureate Eric Cornell: ‘Progress in science comes from asking new questions’

Cornell, 64, is a physicist at JILA, a joint research institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In 2001, at age 39, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Wolfgang Ketterle and Carl Wieman for achieving Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms and for early fundamental studies of the condensates’ properties.

Speaking with VnExpress during a U.S. Foreign Press Centers reporting tour in Colorado in late September, Cornell discussed fundamental science, scientific discovery and the potential impact of AI and quantum physics.

Eric Cornell, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics, speaks with VnExpress at JILA in Boulder, Colorado, U.S., September 2026. Photo by VnExpress/Luu Quy

- How do you assess fundamental science right now?

- We have been doing science for a long time, and we have made a lot of progress. There are still things that we are trying to find out. The questions that we asked ourselves a hundred years ago, we have answered those questions.

Now, progress in science often comes when people actually think of new questions. It is almost as important to think of new questions as new answers. That is one of the key things in science: to think, what are the interesting questions? And what have been the questions people have not thought of?

- Should countries with limited resources invest in fundamental science, and how should they approach it?

- I think every nation should do science. But I also think that if you are a small nation, you cannot do all different kinds of science. There are advantages to specializing.

A nation can think: "We will not try to do all different kinds of science, but we will develop expertise in this particular area." I think this can be a very successful strategy. As for what area, it almost does not matter, you pick one and push together collectively in that direction.

- How has your life as a scientist changed since winning the Nobel Prize? Is there any secret to achieving success in science?

- The thing that helps a lot to win a Nobel Prize is not to care very much about winning a Nobel Prize. What matters is caring about doing good science, looking at interesting problems, and not getting too tangled up in ambition.

It is different. Before winning the Nobel Prize, I was relatively young and working on a project that people thought was a little crazy. Because of that, people underestimated me, which was actually very helpful. You can sort of move in under the radar.

That does not happen anymore. I cannot move stealthily through physics now.

- What advice would you give to young researchers?

- Embrace the romance and excitement of discoveries you make that are not necessarily the first time anyone has discovered them. If you are doing math and you see a pattern in numbers, you might say: "Look at this pattern, this is really interesting! I have discovered something cool." Chances are many other people have discovered that already, but that is not your problem. What you should embrace is the joy of discovering something new to you.

In the meantime, you are practicing and feeling that joy, which is super important. One day, maybe you will discover something that is new to everybody.

- Quantum physics is expected to bring major advances in computing, while AI is rapidly changing society. What impact do you think these technologies will have in the future?

- Quantum physics will enable us to do much more powerful calculations. However, I do not see quantum physics as the kind of thing that will turn society upside down the way AI has. I look at it as a powerful enabling technology, but not something that could potentially fully scramble society the way AI might.

I am impressed and perhaps a little worried about how fast things are changing. It is going to have immense impacts. I hope they are good impacts, but I cannot say for sure, so I am a little nervous.

Some people worry AI will turn into monsters and kill us. I am more worried that AI will very dramatically change global society in a way that could be good or bad, but with no particular guarantee that it will be good.