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.
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4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Satellite internet can reach remote areas traditional cables can't, but current pricing puts it out of reach for many of the people who need it most. Bringing the cost down could close a major digital divide.
science-space
global-unspecified
satellite
internet
haven
solved
make
affordable
enough
world
poorest
regions
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
technology-computing
digital
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Modern prosthetic limbs can restore some movement, but most still can't let a person genuinely feel what they're touching. Restoring sensory feedback affordably remains a major unsolved bioengineering problem.
health-biology
global-unspecified
restore
don
have
affordable
widely
available
prosthetics
natural
sense
touch
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
3D printing has transformed prototyping, but printing functional circuits and electronics remains unreliable and limited. Solving this could make custom electronics production dramatically faster and cheaper.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
printing
electronics
yet
build
printers
capable
reliably
complex
not
just
whether
mathematics-logic
philosophy-ethics
technology-computing
haven
fully
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Early brain-computer interfaces show promise for people with paralysis, but they remain expensive, invasive, or unreliable outside controlled lab settings. Making them practical for everyday use is still unsolved.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
brain-computer
interfaces
outside
haven
created
affordable
work
reliably
laboratory
early
philosophy-ethics
whether
health-biology
mathematics-logic
determine
solved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Search results are ranked mostly by popularity and relevance signals, not by actual accuracy, letting false but engaging content rise to the top. A better system needs to weigh truthfulness, not just engagement.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
search
build
engines
reliably
separate
high-quality
information
convincing
misinformation
not
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
yet
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
This period, known as cosmic inflation, is widely accepted as a concept but the exact physical mechanism driving it remains unproven. Confirming it would close a major gap in our understanding of the universe's first moments.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
universe
don
have
full
model
explaining
early
expanded
faster
expected
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
way
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Larger asteroids are easier to spot years ahead, but smaller ones capable of serious regional damage often go undetected until they're very close. Expanding detection capability remains a quiet but serious safety gap.
local-regional
global-unspecified
asteroids
yet
detect
small
dangerous
near-earth
far
enough
advance
but
whether
philosophy-ethics
haven
mathematics-logic
health-biology
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
The leading theory involves a massive collision with early Earth, but several details still don't perfectly match the evidence we've collected from lunar samples. A fuller explanation would clarify Earth's own early history too.
health-biology
global-unspecified
haven
confirmed
exactly
moon
originally
formed
early
earth
leading
theory
philosophy-ethics
whether
way
don
science-space
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Detecting gravitational waves was a breakthrough, but modeling exactly what happens during these violent mergers pushes our computing power and physics equations to their limits.
science-space
global-unspecified
gravitational
waves
reliably
simulate
black
holes
merge
release
fine
detail
have
primordial
know
dark
matter
haven
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fast radio bursts flash briefly and then vanish, and we still don't fully understand what causes them. Some theories point to exotic stars, but no explanation is fully confirmed yet.
science-space
global-unspecified
don
explanation
radio
have
full
strange
repeating
signals
detected
deep
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
haven
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
This mismatch is part of the evidence for dark matter, but the details of how it shapes galaxy rotation are still not fully worked out. A better model would sharpen our understanding of galaxy formation.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
matter
haven
explained
some
galaxies
rotate
ways
don
match
visible
whether
know
mathematics-logic
resolved
determine
fully
open
United States, North America
Reusable rockets have cut costs, but they still require significant repair and inspection after each landing. True rapid reusability, like an airplane, would make space travel dramatically cheaper.
science-space
north-america
united-states
rockets
reusable
yet
build
fully
expensive
refurbishment
between
flights
have
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
technology-computing
open
United States, North America
We've confirmed thousands of exoplanets, but identifying which ones could truly support life requires data we mostly don't have yet. A clearer count would refocus the search for life beyond Earth.
philosophy-ethics
north-america
united-states
don
know
exactly
potentially
habitable
planets
exist
our
galaxy
life
global-unspecified
whether
resolved
determine
have
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Earth's magnetic field protects us from solar radiation, but the dynamo process that generates it deep underground is still only partly understood. This matters for predicting how long that protection will last.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
magnetic
earth
don
fully
understand
fields
form
behave
inside
planets
whether
philosophy-ethics
science-space
know
mathematics-logic
haven
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
We understand the general physics of dying stars, but the precise trigger moment inside a collapsing star remains difficult to observe and model. Solving this would sharpen predictions about stellar life cycles across the universe.
science-space
global-unspecified
explain
exact
mechanism
triggers
supernova
real
time
understand
general
physics
whether
mathematics-logic
philosophy-ethics
haven
resolved
know
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
If P equaled NP, countless hard problems in logistics, cryptography, and optimization could be solved efficiently, but most computer scientists suspect they can't. This remains the most famous open question in computer science.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
whether
don
know
equals
some
fundamentally
harder
solve
check
computer
philosophy-ethics
resolved
haven
mathematics-logic
possible
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
This conjecture about the zeros of a specific complex function would, if proven, tighten our understanding of how primes are distributed among all integers. It's considered one of the most important unsolved problems in mathematics.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
proven
haven
riemann
hypothesis
predicts
exactly
building
blocks
prime
numbers
whether
know
every
possible
mathematical
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Gödel's incompleteness theorems already showed some truths escape any fixed formal system, but the full boundary between provable and unprovable truths remains an active area of exploration. This shapes how we understand the limits of formal reasoning itself.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
system
don
know
every
mathematical
statement
seems
true
eventually
proven
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
haven
possible
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
This difficulty is exactly what keeps most modern encryption secure, since multiplying primes together is easy but reversing the process is not. If an efficient method were found, it could upend the security of the internet as we know it.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
know
don
efficiently
factor
extremely
large
numbers
prime
components
difficulty
whether
haven
philosophy-ethics
possible
resolved
every
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Sphere-packing problems are solved for a few specific dimensions, but the general pattern across all possible dimensions remains unknown. This affects fields ranging from error-correcting codes to theoretical physics.
science-space
global-unspecified
haven
determined
exact
boundary
densely
objects
packed
higher-dimensional
spaces
dimensions
whether
mathematics-logic
philosophy-ethics
possible
resolved
every