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
Global / Unspecified, Global
Non-native plants and animals often outcompete local species once introduced, and by the time damage is noticed, removal is difficult and expensive. Faster detection and response systems remain underdeveloped.
health-biology
global-unspecified
species
faster
stop
invasive
spreading
damaging
ecosystems
respond
non-native
plants
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
prevent
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
Global / Unspecified, Global
Raising cattle and other livestock produces a significant share of global methane emissions, yet meat remains a major part of diets worldwide. A lower-emission farming method that doesn't require giving up meat entirely remains unsolved.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
livestock
emissions
haven
solved
farm
contributing
heavily
greenhouse
gas
meat
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
way
determine
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Some island nations face the real possibility of becoming uninhabitable within decades due to sea level rise. Cheap, effective coastal protection or relocation planning remains urgently unsolved for these communities.
health-biology
global-unspecified
island
nations
haven
found
affordable
way
protect
low-lying
being
submerged
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
resolved
determine
communities
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Coding education often depends on expensive devices, reliable internet, and trained teachers, none of which are guaranteed in poorer school systems. Closing this gap could open technology careers to far more young people.
social-civic-problems
global-unspecified
coding
haven
found
scalable
way
teach
basic
skills
students
under-resourced
whether
philosophy-ethics
systems
mathematics-logic
resolved
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Faster memory tends to be far more expensive, forcing constant trade-offs in computer design between speed and cost. Solving this trade-off could make faster computing broadly accessible.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
extremely
computer
memory
build
both
fast
cheap
same
time
faster
whether
haven
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
yet
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Even advanced AI systems sometimes generate plausible-sounding but incorrect answers, and users often can't tell the difference without checking elsewhere. A dependable way to prevent this remains unsolved.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
way
don
have
foolproof
stop
chatbots
confidently
stating
false
information
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
prevent
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Personal information is scattered across emails, cloud drives, apps, and devices, with no single reliable way to search across all of it. A unified, private personal search tool remains unbuilt.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
search
personal
information
all
yet
build
tools
let
people
find
whether
philosophy-ethics
haven
resolved
determine
mathematics-logic
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
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
Global / Unspecified, Global
Sending money internationally is often slow, expensive, or restricted depending on where you live, despite living in a supposedly connected digital economy. A truly borderless payment system remains unbuilt.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
digital
payment
don
have
interoperable
systems
work
equally
well
whether
philosophy-ethics
technology-computing
resolved
determine
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Once deployed, a model could be subtly altered or poisoned without obvious signs, potentially changing its behavior in harmful ways. There's no simple, universal way yet to verify a model is exactly as it was originally trained.
health-biology
global-unspecified
model
way
don
have
reliable
detect
has
been
secretly
tampered
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Countless websites, articles, and pages vanish permanently when companies shut down or servers go offline. Without better and more complete web archiving, we risk losing large chunks of internet history.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
websites
don
have
good
way
archive
online
content
disappear
forever
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
prevent
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
Even experienced teams regularly introduce bugs into complex software, some of which cause expensive failures. Languages or tools that can mathematically guarantee certain classes of bugs can't exist would be a major step forward.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
bugs
languages
software
certain
don
have
programming
make
large
systems
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Homes filled with gadgets from different brands often struggle to talk to each other properly, frustrating users and limiting real automation. A shared, open standard would fix this fragmentation.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
standard
different
don
have
universal
letting
smart
home
devices
work
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
way
agreed
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
Living without normal gravity weakens astronauts' bones and muscles over time. Practical, affordable ways to simulate gravity in space stations remain mostly untested at scale.
science-space
global-unspecified
gravity
space
yet
build
habitats
fully
replicate
earth-like
long-term
health
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
know
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Some outer moons hide liquid oceans beneath thick ice, and possibly conditions that could support life. Getting real data from beneath that ice remains a major unsolved engineering and mission challenge.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
beneath
moons
don
fully
understand
lies
icy
surfaces
like
europa
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
know
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
