Scientific data is distributed over time. For a given entity of interest, have we already recorded all potentially relevant data on its properties, relationships, and representations?

Scientific data is fundamentally distributed: physically, conceptually, and temporally. You can’t situate all the data you’ll ever need, once and for all, in one place.

I have written a bit about benefits of FAIR; however, a reader rightly pointed out to me that there is no such thing as a free lunch – what are some of the costs of FAIR?

Findability is making reuse possible. If no one can discover your data, if even basic metadata is hidden in a silo, then reuse is simply not possible.