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
Future workers may combine employment, freelancing, caregiving, entrepreneurship, and AI-assisted production. Benefits must follow people across contracts without making innovation or small-business hiring impossible. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
economics-resources
benefits
people
portable
working
platforms
low-income
communities
must
future
workers
technology-computing
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
quantum
infrastructure
science-space
Many regions will simultaneously face elderly isolation, expensive housing, and young adults unable to form households. New models must combine privacy, care, affordability, and autonomy across generations. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
social-civic-problems
europe
italy
housing
young
intergenerational
aging
populations
low-income
communities
must
regions
will
technology-computing
economics-resources
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
open
Brazil, South America
Research environments may unintentionally create or amplify resistance traits that escape through waste, personnel, or supply chains. Robust solutions must combine laboratory engineering, surveillance, waste treatment, and international reporting. The solution must work with limited capital, intermittent services, and local maintenance capacity. The research opportunity is to define measurable success criteria, test the approach in realistic settings, identify failure modes, and create a pathway from prototype to accountable deployment.
economics-resources
south-america
brazil
supply-chain
resistance
controlling
antimicrobial
synthetic
biology
laboratories
low-income
communities
research
create
technology-computing
climate-environment
society-governance
systems
open
Antarctica / Unspecified, Antarctica
Science, tourism, and fishing activities leave infrastructure, pollution, and disturbance, but their combined effects are under-studied. Spatial-impact mapping and cumulative-effects assessment platforms are needed.
technology-computing
antarctica
antarctica-unspecified
lack
comprehensive
data
human
footprint
cumulative
impacts
science
tourism
climate-environment
global-unspecified
society-governance
african
infrastructure
systems
open
Antarctica / Unspecified, Antarctica
Recovering ozone and rising greenhouse gases jointly shape winds and temperature patterns over the continent. Integrated atmospheric observations and chemistry–climate models can unravel combined effects.
climate-environment
antarctica
antarctica-unspecified
climate
ozone-layer
changes
continue
interact
antarctic
dynamics
recovering
ozone
rising
global-unspecified
regulating
under
migration
philosophy-ethics
open
Antarctica / Unspecified, Antarctica
Sector-by-sector rules may miss combined pressures. Integrated cumulative-impact planning platforms could improve governance.
society-governance
antarctica
antarctica-unspecified
lack
robust
frameworks
manage
cumulative
fishing
tourism
research
impacts
over
governance
systems
global-unspecified
technology-computing
urban
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Mechanisms behind superconductivity in cuprates and iron-based materials remain contested. Combined experimental and theoretical work is needed to unlock room-temperature materials.
science-space
global-unspecified
superconductivity
not
fully
understand
high-temperature
materials
mechanisms
behind
cuprates
iron-based
mathematics-logic
reuse
might
local
actors
economics-resources
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Dust growth, fragmentation, and migration shape planet formation but are complex. Combined observation and modeling efforts are needed.
social-civic-problems
global-unspecified
dust
lack
detailed
models
evolution
protoplanetary
disks
growth
fragmentation
migration
science-space
fully
climate-environment
formation
interstellar
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Glacier loss and development threaten them. Integrated mountain governance is needed.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
mountain
ecosystems
face
combined
climate
human
pressures
glacier
loss
development
society-governance
governance
communities
frameworks
mechanisms
ensuring
Decades of subsidized electricity have encouraged excessive borewell pumping, dropping water tables dangerously fast. Smart metering combined with drip-irrigation subsidies could slow depletion.
local-regional
asia
india
food-security
depletion
groundwater
irrigation
threatens
long-term
food
security
pakistan
decades
global-unspecified
climate-environment
water
urban
long
Rapid urban migration combined with limited land supply is pushing housing prices far beyond what average incomes can support. Modular and prefabricated housing ventures could help increase affordable supply faster.
social-civic-problems
asia
housing
affordability
crises
worsening
major
asian
cities
supply
rapid
urban
african
global-unspecified
economics-resources
systems
climate-environment
affordable
Rapid consumption growth combined with inadequate waste management sends huge volumes of plastic into waterways each year. River-cleaning technology and plastic-to-value recycling startups could intercept waste before it reaches oceans.
climate-environment
asia
waste-management
waste
plastic
pollution
asian
rivers
coastlines
contributes
heavily
ocean
globally
global-unspecified
management
systems
recycling
solutions
open
South & Southeast Asia, Asia
Rising temperatures combined with high humidity are pushing some regions toward conditions where outdoor work becomes dangerous. Heat-early-warning systems and outdoor worker protection policies need urgent development.
climate-environment
asia
south-southeast-asia
extreme
heatwaves
becoming
frequent
deadly
south
southeast
outdoor
rising
systems
economics-resources
society-governance
real
time
predicting
Weak monitoring networks mean swarms are often detected only after major damage occurs. AI-based satellite tracking combined with SMS alerts to farmers could enable faster response.
science-space
africa
east-africa
locust
pest
outbreaks
regularly
devastate
crops
little
early
warning
weak
global-unspecified
climate-environment
social-civic-problems
rural
flash
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Closed space station biomes combined with radiation select for rapid bacterial mutation, risking astronaut health. Autonomous metagenomic sequencing systems must continuously monitor station surfaces for bio-threats.
science-space
global-unspecified
drug-resistant
station
monitor
space
cannot
long-term
microbial
mutations
yield
multi-drug
resistant
systems
support
missions
medical
psychological
Bridges, ports, and power stations across island nations are built with conventional standards that fail during combined seismic events, storm surges, and landslides, cutting off entire island populations from emergency relief.
climate-environment
asia
philippines
haven
created
modular
infrastructure
capable
withstanding
compound
disaster
hazards
pacific-asian
island
remote
communities
economics-resources
philosophy-ethics
Unplanned urban concrete expansion combined with rising temperatures has created extreme urban heat pockets, severely threatening elderly and low-income outdoor workers without public cooling centers.
economics-resources
asia
pakistan
urban
extreme
heat
haven
protected
rapid
urbanization
zones
island
uhi
climate-environment
cities
systems
global-unspecified
water
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Bees and other pollinators face combined pressure from pesticides, habitat loss, and disease, and addressing just one threat rarely solves the overall decline. A comprehensive solution addressing all major threats together remains unbuilt.
health-biology
global-unspecified
threats
face
haven
found
way
protect
pollinator
populations
multiple
once
philosophy-ethics
whether
prevent
determine
mathematics-logic
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Related conjectures about how primes combine remain only partially proven for specific ranges, without a fully general confirmed pattern. This connects to broader unresolved questions about the additive structure of prime numbers.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
prime
proven
numbers
haven
whether
every
sufficiently
large
number
written
know
possible
philosophy-ethics
resolved
mathematical
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
A fungal disease combined with habitat destruction has driven sharp declines in amphibian populations across many regions, and effective large-scale intervention remains limited. Protecting these ecologically important species remains an unresolved conservation priority.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
amphibian
populations
disease
habitat
yet
fully
prevent
decline
linked
loss
whether
philosophy-ethics
way
resolved
determine
haven