How to determine what the new hot topic will be in the culture:
[C]heck with hollywood. The hot thing in 2012 will be something they had a movie on in 2011. Suddenly, all the kids will want to study this, and government officials will want to fund research on it (we’ve seen it with dinosaurs, and with climate change)
I’d go for studying something that interests you, and just continue with it no matter what te [sic] market is. You’ll be very likely to be fashionable at least once in your career like that
So said DonStefano on a Chronicle forum.