[stanford_labrat]

Great comment. I would encourage all PhD students to bomb-proof their thesis topic and build it on as solid a foundation as possible. I chose perhaps a less flashy, relevant, and lucrative topic for this reason but I would rather finish than be staring down the barrel of a "my entire work has been based off a lie"...

[nerdyadventurer]

How do we know that a paper was based on false data?

[anonymouskimmer]

I think the point is to pick a grad lab extending a well-trod path, or at least well replicated path, not something relatively new and flashy.