Repository of problems worth solving
World Solve is a public institutional repository for identifying real unresolved problems across science, society, health, governance, economics, and local systems. Each entry is intended to be citable, inspectable, and actionable.
Publicly citable
Every problem has a stable citation code for reference and discussion.
Filtered by relevance
Search by category, geography, status, and keywords.
Builder-oriented
Use the repository to find startup ideas, policy leads, and research agendas.
4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Facial recognition is being deployed in policing, retail, and public spaces with vastly different rules depending on location, raising serious privacy and bias concerns. Consistent, fair regulation remains largely unbuilt.
society-governance
global-unspecified
fair
consistent
facial
recognition
don
have
way
regulate
technology
governments
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Rates of some cancers are rising among people under fifty for reasons researchers don't yet fully understand, spanning diet, environment, and other unknown factors. Identifying the cause is a necessary first step toward prevention.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
yet
fully
cancers
explain
certain
becoming
common
younger
adults
rates
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
health-biology
haven
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Undiagnosed vision problems in children can quietly affect school performance for years before being caught. Early, affordable screening at scale remains unavailable in many school systems worldwide.
health-biology
global-unspecified
vision
children
affect
don
have
scalable
way
detect
treat
learning
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Antibiotics are widely used in livestock farming to prevent disease and promote growth, contributing significantly to antibiotic resistance in humans. Reducing this use without harming farmers' livelihoods remains a persistent unresolved challenge.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
prevent
antibiotics
resistance
haven
found
way
overuse
agriculture
accelerating
drug
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Dental problems can affect overall health significantly, yet dental care is often separated from general healthcare systems and priced out of reach for many. Closing this gap remains an overlooked but serious healthcare access issue.
health-biology
global-unspecified
care
dental
yet
general
make
affordable
accessible
same
degree
medical
whether
philosophy-ethics
haven
mathematics-logic
access
remains
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
A meaningful share of people who contracted COVID-19 continue experiencing fatigue, brain fog, or other symptoms long after recovery, with no reliably effective treatment yet available. This remains a significant and only partially understood health burden.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
effective
long
symptoms
don
have
way
treat
covid
persist
months
whether
determine
health-biology
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Air pollution contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular disease in millions of people living in polluted urban areas, and treatment only addresses symptoms, not exposure. Reducing the exposure itself remains the harder, unresolved half of the problem.
health-biology
global-unspecified
air-pollution
air
pollution
haven
solved
prevent
long-term
health
effects
densely
populated
whether
philosophy-ethics
climate-environment
mathematics-logic
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Some slow-growing cancers are unlikely to ever threaten a patient's life, yet current diagnostics often can't tell them apart from dangerous ones. This leads to both overtreatment and, at times, dangerous undertreatment.
health-biology
global-unspecified
yet
cancers
reliably
distinguish
between
need
aggressive
treatment
those
never
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
haven
fully
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Clothing production involves water use, chemical dyes, and labor spread across many countries, making its full environmental cost difficult to measure accurately. Without clear measurement, meaningful accountability remains difficult to enforce.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
supply-chain
measure
environmental
cost
its
full
don
have
reliable
way
true
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fertilizer runoff from farms feeds harmful algae blooms in nearby lakes, damaging drinking water and local ecosystems. Preventing this at the source remains cheaper than treating it after the fact, but adoption is still limited.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
lakes
nearby
haven
found
affordable
way
protect
freshwater
pollution
caused
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
resolved
prevent
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Mining for the metals used in batteries and electronics often destroys forests, rivers, and habitats that took centuries to form. Balancing resource needs with ecosystem protection remains a persistent unresolved tension.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
mining
yet
stop
operations
permanently
damaging
fragile
ecosystems
resource-rich
regions
whether
philosophy-ethics
way
mathematics-logic
prevent
haven
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Microplastics have been found nearly everywhere scientists have looked, including soil and tap water, yet no affordable removal method exists at scale. This leaves an existing, growing contamination problem largely unaddressed.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
have
microplastics
soil
water
don
cost-effective
way
remove
already
present
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Most food waste in large cities still ends up in landfills producing methane, despite composting being a relatively simple, well-understood solution. Scaling this to city-wide adoption remains logistically unresolved in most places.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
composting
waste
large
cities
haven
solved
make
organic
recycling
standard
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
International agreements to reduce deforestation often rely on inconsistent or delayed data, making enforcement difficult. Better real-time tracking could hold countries and companies accountable for logging commitments.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
deforestation
agreements
yet
track
tree
cover
loss
accurately
enough
enforce
whether
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
determine
technology-computing
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Rising seas and stronger storms are eroding coastlines faster than in the past, threatening homes and infrastructure built near the water. Affordable, effective protection methods remain limited outside of wealthy coastal areas.
health-biology
global-unspecified
affordable
coastal
don
have
way
prevent
erosion
steadily
consuming
beaches
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
agreed
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Overgrazing and development have degraded vast grassland ecosystems worldwide, and restoration efforts remain small compared to the scale of the damage. A more scalable restoration method could recover important habitat and carbon storage.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
scalable
degraded
haven
found
way
restore
grasslands
once
supported
diverse
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
don
have
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Current wearables track surface-level signals like heart rate well, but measuring things like blood chemistry non-invasively remains far less reliable. Solving this could make preventive healthcare monitoring dramatically more accessible.
science-space
global-unspecified
yet
build
wearable
devices
accurately
monitor
internal
health
markers
invasive
whether
philosophy-ethics
haven
mathematics-logic
technology-computing
health-biology
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Digital voting could make elections more accessible, but concerns about tampering and verification have kept most systems limited to smaller-scale trials. A fully trusted, secure digital voting system remains unbuilt at national scale.
society-governance
global-unspecified
digital
voting
have
trusted
don
universally
method
prevents
both
fraud
whether
philosophy-ethics
technology-computing
resolved
determine
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Data centers powering cloud services consume enormous amounts of electricity and water for cooling, and demand keeps climbing with AI adoption. A genuinely sustainable path for this growth remains unresolved.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
cloud
sustainable
growth
haven
found
way
make
computing
environmentally
its
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Self-driving systems handle most driving scenarios well, but rare, unusual situations still trip them up in ways human drivers might handle intuitively. Closing this reliability gap remains essential before full autonomy becomes truly safe.
society-governance
global-unspecified
safe
human
yet
guarantee
autonomous
vehicles
will
make
same
decisions
systems
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
haven
resolved
