A living repository of problems worth solving.
World Solve is an institutional, citable repository of unsolved and solved problems across science, technology, economics, governance, and philosophy. We give independent researchers and entrepreneurs precise targets to work on next.
1. Explore & Filter
Search and filter across continents, categories, and tags to find precise problems matching your expertise.
2. Claim & Work
Mark problems you are actively working on, collaborate with peers, and build verified solutions.
3. Citable Records
Every problem gets a unique permanent citation ID (e.g. WS00042) for research papers and proposals.
4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02078
Moon dust particles are sharp, electrostatically charged, and easily adhere to spacesuits and machinery. Electrostatic repulsion systems and dust-tolerant mechanical seals are urgently needed for lunar operations.
Team Humans Club. (2026). Lunar regolith dust causes rapid mechanical wear and atmospheric contamination in closed habitats.. World Solve Repository, WS02078. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2078
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02079
Identifying traces of methane, ozone, and water vapor simultaneously on rocky extrasolar planets remains at the limit of current telescopes. Space-based starshades and high-contrast coronagraphs are needed to resolve atmospheric details.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We lack direct spectroscopic confirmation of biosignature gases in Earth-sized exoplanet atmospheres.. World Solve Repository, WS02079. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2079
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02080
Hydrogen and oxygen boil off due to solar radiation in orbit, prohibiting long-duration storage for deep space stages. Advanced active cryocooling, sunshields, and zero-boil-off insulation technologies are required.
Team Humans Club. (2026). Cryogenic liquid propellants boil off rapidly during long-term orbital and interplanetary storage.. World Solve Repository, WS02080. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2080
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02081
These moons host liquid water oceans under miles of ice, warmed by tidal forces, but we lack robotic tools capable of melting through kilometers of crust to sample liquid water without introducing Earth contamination.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We do not know if life could exist in the sub-surface oceans of icy moons like Europa and Enceladus.. World Solve Repository, WS02081. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2081
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02082
Millimeter-sized meteoroids travel at tens of kilometers per second and pose catastrophic puncture risks to satellites and spacecraft hulls. Ultra-sensitive impact sensors and wide-field detection arrays are needed.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We cannot precisely map or predict hyper-velocity micro-meteoroid swarms in inner solar orbits.. World Solve Repository, WS02082. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2082
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02083
Current space stations must re-supply metabolic consumables, water filtration media, and trace contaminant gases from Earth. Fully regenerative bio-synthetic life support systems are essential for long-term lunar and Martian outposts.
Team Humans Club. (2026). 100% closed-loop Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) do not exist yet.. World Solve Repository, WS02083. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2083
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02084
Next-generation telescopes and gigawatt-scale space solar power arrays are too large to fit in single rocket fairings. Highly coordinated multi-robot assembly systems operating in microgravity need to be developed and standardized.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We lack scalable mechanisms for autonomous robotic assembly of large structures in space.. World Solve Repository, WS02084. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2084
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02085
FRBs unleash as much energy in milliseconds as the Sun emits in days, yet their origins—whether magnetars or exotic energetic events—are unconfirmed. Resolving this will yield new insights into extreme astrophysics and cosmic plasma.
Team Humans Club. (2026). The exact physical trigger mechanism of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) remains unsolved.. World Solve Repository, WS02085. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2085
Open
North America / United States
WS02086
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.
Team Humans Club. (2026). The Solar Corona is thousands of times hotter than the surface of the Sun, and we don't know why.. World Solve Repository, WS02086. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2086
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02087
Cephalad fluid shifts in microgravity increase intracranial pressure, leading to structural eye deformation and vision impairment. Non-invasive, flight-ready therapies or fluid-redistribution suits are urgently required.
Team Humans Club. (2026). Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) impairs long-duration astronaut vision.. World Solve Repository, WS02087. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2087
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02088
While kinetic impactors work against predictable asteroids, long-period comets can appear with less than a year's warning. Rapid-response high-yield interception systems are needed to protect Earth from unexpected impacts.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We have no proven way to divert a planet-threatening comet on a short-notice trajectory.. World Solve Repository, WS02088. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2088
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02089
3D-printing complex structural metal components in microgravity often results in porosity and micro-cracks. We need reliable thermal controls and melt-pool monitoring for zero-g metal and composite fabrication.
Team Humans Club. (2026). In-space additive manufacturing is limited by microgravity fluid dynamics and alloy defects.. World Solve Repository, WS02089. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2089
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02090
Navigating craft and rovers on the lunar farside or in deep space relies heavily on congested Earth ground antenna networks. Scalable lunar and deep-space autonomous navigation and timing constellations are needed.
Team Humans Club. (2026). Global positioning systems (like GPS) do not extend to the Moon or interplanetary space.. World Solve Repository, WS02090. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2090
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02091
Space-based solar power requires transmitting multi-gigawatt microwave or laser beams safely through Earth's atmosphere. Phased array antenna precision and efficiency losses remain significant engineering bottlenecks.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We lack an efficient way to beam high-power electrical energy across orbital distances.. World Solve Repository, WS02091. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2091
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02092
General relativity governs massive scale gravity while quantum mechanics governs atomic scales, but they break down together at black hole singularities. Developing a unified Theory of Quantum Gravity is the holy grail of theoretical physic...
Team Humans Club. (2026). The quantum mechanics and general relativity theories remain fundamentally incompatible.. World Solve Repository, WS02092. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2092
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02093
Measurements of the cosmic microwave background yield a lower expansion rate than direct distance ladder measurements of modern galaxies. Resolving this discrepancy could reveal brand-new physics beyond the Standard Model.
Team Humans Club. (2026). The Hubbel Tension shows a critical discrepancy in how fast the universe is expanding.. World Solve Repository, WS02093. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2093
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02094
Plants grown in space suffer from water-logging and oxygen starvation around roots due to absence of buoyancy-driven convection. Developing autonomous micro-fluidic aeration root systems is essential for growing fresh crops in space.
Team Humans Club. (2026). Microgravity prevents normal fluid movement in plant root systems, limiting space agriculture.. World Solve Repository, WS02094. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2094
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02095
A host star is millions to billions of times brighter than a reflecting planet, blinding optical telescopes. Next-generation space interferometers and giant optical starshades are required to resolve exoplanet oceans and continents.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We cannot directly image the surfaces of Earth-like exoplanets due to stellar glare.. World Solve Repository, WS02095. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2095
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02096
Landers currently depend on pre-mapped terrain, which leaves them vulnerable to boulders, unexpected slopes, and dust plumes during touchdown. Ultra-fast optical-LiDAR terrain-relative navigation is needed for safe pinpoint landing.
Team Humans Club. (2026). Autonomous real-time landing on rugged, unstructured planetary terrain remains high risk.. World Solve Repository, WS02096. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2096
Open
Global / Global / Unspecified
WS02097
Shipping structural habitat materials from Earth is cost-prohibitive. We must develop 3D-sintering or concrete binder technologies that use local soil to withstand vacuum pressure and severe thermal cycling.
Team Humans Club. (2026). We have no proven way to construct durable, air-tight habitats out of raw lunar or Martian regolith.. World Solve Repository, WS02097. Retrieved from https://www.worldsolve.org/index.php?view=problem&id=2097
