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
United States, North America
Many rural African hospitals cannot afford or stock effective antivenom, and misdiagnosis is common. Regional antivenom manufacturing hubs and diagnostic training could save lives.
health-biology
north-america
united-states
antivenom
snakebite
envenoming
kills
thousands
yearly
but
scarce
expensive
rural
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
africa
african
remains
open
United States, North America
Most African households still cook with wood or charcoal, causing respiratory disease and deforestation. Affordable clean cookstoves and biogas systems need wider distribution networks.
climate-environment
north-america
united-states
air-pollution
deforestation
household
air
pollution
cooking
fuels
causes
hundreds
thousands
deaths
yearly
affordable
global-unspecified
health-biology
open
United States, North America
Menstrual hygiene management gaps and long, unsafe commutes push girls out of the education system permanently. Affordable reusable sanitary pad manufacturing and school-proximity boarding models can help retention.
social-civic-problems
north-america
united-states
girls
out
sanitary
regions
drop
school
puberty
due
lack
products
secondary
reducing
education
global-unspecified
african
open
Gulf of Guinea, Africa
Weak naval capacity among coastal states lets criminal networks disrupt shipping and extract ransoms. Shared regional maritime surveillance systems could improve enforcement capacity.
local-regional
africa
gulf-of-guinea
maritime
piracy
smuggling
persist
gulf
guinea
capacity
weak
naval
among
systems
society-governance
without
mass
surveillance
open
United States, North America
Millions of untracked fragments threaten operational satellites and crewed stations via the Kessler Syndrome. Scalable active debris removal mechanisms and real-time sub-centimeter tracking are required to maintain orbital usability.
science-space
north-america
united-states
orbital
debris
space
poses
exponential
cascade
risk
low
earth
orbit
technologies
removal
dual
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
open
United States, North America
The Coronal Heating Problem violates intuition: the outer solar atmosphere reaches millions of degrees while the surface is ~5,500°C. Solving this requires understanding magnetic reconnection and Alfvén wave dissipation mechanisms.
climate-environment
north-america
united-states
solar
surface
corona
thousands
times
hotter
sun
don
know
coronal
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Atmospheric pressure and temperatures inside gas giants destroy probes long before reaching their cores. Advanced gravitational mapping, seismic sensors, and neutrino probes are needed to uncover their core states.
science-space
global-unspecified
gas
cannot
directly
study
interior
structures
giant
planets
like
jupiter
climate-environment
internal
dynamics
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Matter inside neutron stars is crushed beyond atomic densities into unknown states like quark-gluon plasma. Multi-messenger astronomy combining X-ray observatories and gravitational wave detectors is needed to probe these conditions.
science-space
global-unspecified
matter
inside
neutron
not
fully
understand
physical
state
star
cores
know
dark
philosophy-ethics
whether
haven
Unsustainable grazing and land degradation in the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts trigger toxic dust storms that sweep thousands of miles, destroying topsoil, damaging infrastructure, and worsening air quality across Northeast Asia.
climate-environment
asia
united-states
dust
storms
haven
halted
sand
sds
spreading
expanding
desertification
global-unspecified
african
access
economics-resources
land
parts
Generational debt traps bind entire families to uncompensated labor in brick kilns and agriculture, enforced by informal moneylenders outside state oversight.
local-regional
asia
pakistan
labor
brick
kilns
haven
stopped
forced
debt-bonded
regional
rural
agricultural
society-governance
governance
economics-resources
systems
informal
open
United States, North America
Thousands of patients remain on transplant waiting lists that never resolve in time, largely because donor organ supply can't keep pace with demand. Alternatives like lab-grown organs remain the most promising but still unrealized solution.
local-regional
north-america
united-states
organ
patients
donor
haven
solved
make
transplants
available
relying
solely
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
health-biology
mathematics-logic
open
United States, North America
Public spending or contract data is sometimes released in formats so disorganized or incomplete that meaningful analysis by journalists or citizens becomes impractical. True transparency requires usable data, not just published data.
society-governance
north-america
united-states
data
transparency
public
government
portals
countries
publish
technically
but
nearly
global-unspecified
systems
technology-computing
whether
philosophy-ethics
open
United States, North America
Almost all current reusable rocket technology is built for missions close to Earth, while deep space missions still rely on expensive, largely disposable hardware. Extending reusability further out could reshape space exploration economics.
science-space
north-america
united-states
reusable
earth
yet
build
affordable
spacecraft
capable
routine
trips
beyond
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
space
open
United States, North America
Thousands of dead satellites and fragments now circle the planet, and a single collision can create thousands more pieces of debris. Left unmanaged, this could eventually make some orbits too dangerous to use safely.
science-space
north-america
united-states
debris
haven
built
practical
way
clean
growing
amount
orbiting
earth
space
global-unspecified
removal
technologies
whether
open
United States, North America
Thousands of victims from past wars and disasters remain unidentified, leaving families without closure decades later. Better, cheaper identification methods could resolve many of these long-standing cases.
health-biology
north-america
united-states
disasters
don
have
reliable
affordable
way
identify
unmarked
human
remains
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
open
United States, North America
Because rare diseases affect few patients, there's often little financial incentive for researchers or companies to develop treatments. Thousands of rare conditions remain effectively untreated as a direct result.
health-biology
north-america
united-states
rare
diseases
don
have
cure
genetic
affecting
small
patient
populations
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
whether
determine
resolved
open
United States, North America
Wave energy is abundant and largely untapped, but current technology to harness it reliably and affordably lags far behind wind and solar. Cracking this could add a major renewable source to the global energy mix.
climate-environment
north-america
united-states
energy
wave
don
have
efficient
way
convert
ocean
usable
electricity
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
determine
open
United States, North America
Farms produce enormous amounts of leftover plant material that mostly gets burned or discarded rather than turned into usable energy. Affordable, small-scale conversion technology could turn this waste into a valuable resource.
climate-environment
north-america
united-states
technology
waste
energy
don
have
widely
available
convert
agricultural
clean
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
way
determine
open
United States, North America
Old software often becomes unusable as operating systems and hardware change around it, forcing costly rewrites or abandonment. Designing for genuine long-term durability is rarely prioritized.
technology-computing
north-america
united-states
software
yet
build
ages
well
remaining
usable
secure
decades
release
systems
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
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