World Solve

Cities may deploy scent systems that automatically adjust collective emotional states. Over time some residents develop tolerance or adverse reactions, creating uneven effects and new forms of environmental inequality. The problem is designing transparent, opt-outable, and medically safe atmospheric interventions that do not become tools of coercion or social control.

The problem of lack of clean and safe drinking water continues to affect hundreds of millions of people and undermines progress on multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Existing responses remain fragmented, under-resourced and poorly adapted to local contexts. A strong solution must operate effectively under severe constraints of skilled personnel, infrastructure, electricity and connectivity. It should define clear measurable outcomes, identify possible unintended harms, and demonstrate how the intervention can be sustained by local institutions long after initial funding ends.

The problem of children going to bed hungry every night continues to affect hundreds of millions of people and undermines progress on multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Existing responses remain fragmented, under-resourced and poorly adapted to local contexts. A strong solution must operate effectively under severe constraints of skilled personnel, infrastructure, electricity and connectivity. It should define clear measurable outcomes, identify possible unintended harms, and demonstrate how the intervention can be sustained by local institutions long after initial funding ends.

Astronomy, cultural practices, wildlife, and human sleep may be affected by large satellite fleets. A workable solution must reconcile connectivity goals with brightness limits, orbital design, and international compliance. 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.

As digital navigation layers become permanent fixtures in daily life, physical landmarks lose meaning and people lose the ability to orient themselves without screens. The challenge is creating systems or practices that preserve spatial awareness and independent wayfinding while still allowing beneficial digital tools. Solutions must work across cultures, age groups, and infrastructure levels, avoid creating new dependencies, and remain usable when networks fail.

Lunar infrastructure and resource extraction could create new strategic inequalities. The challenge is developing rules that enable science and commercial activity while protecting shared interests and preventing territorial competition. 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.

As identity, payments, records, and service portals become central to state capacity, failures will produce large-scale disputes. The unresolved problem is setting up fast, fair, and trusted systems to resolve them. This becomes particularly difficult in informal settlements, because public institutions must remain fair, resilient, and accountable while adapting to new risks.

Urban growth, migration, and climate change will outpace traditional master planning. The challenge is designing governance that can revise land use, service delivery, and infrastructure priorities continuously without becoming arbitrary. This becomes particularly difficult in post-conflict institutions, because public institutions must remain fair, resilient, and accountable while adapting to new risks.

Autonomous spacecraft may make split-second avoidance decisions using imperfect data and proprietary software. The unresolved problem is assigning responsibility, proving fault, and compensating affected parties across jurisdictions. 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.

Future governments will need near-real-time visibility into commitments, arrears, off-budget liabilities, and contingent risks. The open problem is building financial transparency systems that ordinary citizens and auditors can actually use. This becomes particularly difficult in informal settlements, because public institutions must remain fair, resilient, and accountable while adapting to new risks.

Thousands of satellites may provide connectivity while increasing collision risk, radio interference, light pollution, and disposal complexity. The challenge is creating enforceable coordination and end-of-life standards across commercial and state operators. 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.

As more government activity moves online, corruption may shift from visible cash handling to invisible data manipulation, access control, and procurement capture. The challenge is detecting abuse in systems that look efficient on the surface. This becomes particularly difficult in informal settlements, because public institutions must remain fair, resilient, and accountable while adapting to new risks.

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.

Public services will increasingly depend on rapidly updated models and decision pipelines. The unresolved problem is keeping these systems lawful, understandable, and corrigible as they evolve faster than formal regulations. This becomes particularly difficult in informal settlements, because public institutions must remain fair, resilient, and accountable while adapting to new risks.

Industrial agriculture, pollution, and habitat loss may eliminate microorganisms with future medical and ecological value before they are studied. The challenge is creating ethical, distributed microbial conservation infrastructure. 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.

Large-scale fermentation may compete with food, land, and water if it depends on agricultural inputs. Future systems need safe, affordable, low-carbon feedstocks that do not shift environmental burdens to poorer regions. 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.

Genomic medicine could improve treatment while enabling insurers, employers, states, or platforms to infer sensitive traits. The challenge is ensuring people benefit from precision medicine without losing control over biological information. 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.

Engineered microbes, insects, crops, and gene drives may offer major ecological benefits but could spread beyond intended boundaries. The unresolved problem is developing reversible, monitorable, and internationally governed release frameworks. 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.

Future outbreaks may involve pathogens for which no profitable commercial market exists. A useful solution requires distributed manufacturing, adaptable platforms, pre-negotiated procurement, and equitable access before an outbreak occurs. 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.

Biological design tools are becoming more accessible while oversight remains fragmented across countries and institutions. The challenge is detecting dangerous activity without suppressing legitimate research or creating an intrusive global surveillance system. 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.