"One aspect of rule 3 is that to become principal investigator with your own lab you need to publish really high at first stage, so that I think age is very important indeed."

Those were rules for DOING YOUR BEST RESEARCH, not for becoming principal investigator with your own lab.

Rule 3: Age Is Important

Well, that is a misperception i think. The fact is that brilliant people shine as soon as they have the chance -usually-, and many times they become trapped in their own interests so they just keep on the same theories and field, without producing new big breakthroughs but deepening their begginning works. Which is a great thing for science, but lead to the simplifying view of "big breakthrough is made when young". The truth seems to be that the breakthrough is made when the situation is right, and science is organized in such a way that being an important professor puts you in a very difficult situation for risking or changing ways...

The point is, don't confuse correlation with causality.



PS:You have some scientists developing theories late in life. Just remember Darwin.