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
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Standard Extravehicular Mobility Units vent water into space to keep astronauts cool, depleting habitat reserves. Closed-loop heat pump suits or phase-change cooling garments need to be integrated into next-gen suits.
science-space
global-unspecified
water
space
cooling
current
suit
systems
rely
sublimation
wasting
critical
climate-environment
whether
urban
philosophy-ethics
cities
society-governance
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
While microgravity (0g) is well-studied, long-term multi-generational plant reproduction under lunar (0.16g) or Martian (0.38g) gravity is unverified. Long-term surface greenhouse experiments are urgently needed.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
long-term
gravity
plant
not
know
biological
effects
fractional
growth
seed
long
term
systems
whether
society-governance
philosophy-ethics
Over 80% of workers in countries like India, Bangladesh, and Nepal operate within informal economies without access to pensions, disability insurance, or minimum wage guarantees. Traditional bureaucratic tax and welfare systems fail to track or protect these transient and cash-reliant populations during economic shocks.
economics-resources
asia
india
informal
workers
haven
found
effective
mechanism
extend
formal
social
safety
global-unspecified
systems
african
technology-computing
settlements
In major agricultural and industrial manufacturing regions across East and South Asia, overuse of antibiotics in livestock and unmonitored factory discharge have accelerated the proliferation of drug-resistant pathogens, threatening global healthcare systems.
health-biology
asia
india
agricultural
haven
halted
rapid
surge
antimicrobial
resistance
driven
unregulated
pharmaceutical
global-unspecified
systems
climate-environment
whether
philosophy-ethics
Millions of people across Bangladesh, West Bengal, and the Mekong region consume groundwater contaminated with toxic levels of arsenic and fluoride, causing severe chronic diseases due to lack of affordable community filtration systems.
health-biology
asia
bangladesh
arsenic
groundwater
haven
engineered
low-cost
technologies
filter
naturally
occurring
heavy
contamination
global-unspecified
fluoride
removing
climate-environment
Millions of informal recyclers form the backbone of Asian urban waste processing, yet they work under dangerous, toxic conditions without official recognition, equipment, or social safety protections.
local-regional
asia
india
waste-management
waste
informal
haven
integrated
pickers
modern
municipal
solid
management
systems
climate-environment
society-governance
economics-resources
global-unspecified
Despite international treaties, millions of metric tons of toxic e-waste are illegally imported into East and Southeast Asian informal processing hubs, contaminating local ecosystems and harming workers' health.
climate-environment
asia
malaysia
asian
haven
curbed
illegal
transboundary
shipment
electronic
waste
developing
nations
global-unspecified
economics-resources
african
workers
informal
Fast-moving consumer goods companies rely heavily on multi-layer plastic sachets to sell small product quantities affordably, generating unrecyclable plastic litter across waterways and marine systems.
economics-resources
asia
philippines
plastic
consumer
goods
haven
eliminated
single-use
packaging
distribution
networks
lower-income
climate-environment
global-unspecified
systems
waste
food
Global warming is causing Himalayan glaciers to melt rapidly, expanding high-altitude glacial lakes. When natural dams breach, catastrophic floods destroy downstream mountain settlements without adequate real-time warning systems.
climate-environment
asia
nepal
warning
systems
glacial
floods
haven
developed
scalable
early
lake
outburst
society-governance
real
time
technology-computing
economics-resources
Overfishing and destructive fishing practices like dynamite and cyanide fishing are collapsing fish stocks and destroying delicate coral reef ecosystems across disputed maritime territories without effective joint enforcement.
economics-resources
asia
china
fishing
haven
successfully
eliminated
illegal
unreported
unregulated
iuu
international
waters
coastal
communities
global-unspecified
near
science-space
Decades of aquaculture expansion destroyed vast mangrove ecosystems. Current restoration efforts suffer from low sapling survival rates and conflicts with commercial shrimp farming interests.
climate-environment
asia
thailand
mangrove
haven
scale-restored
degraded
forests
protect
coastal
zones
ocean
acidification
along
restoring
global-unspecified
restoration
whether
Opaque public tendering for large infrastructure projects frequently leads to corruption, cost overruns, and substandard public construction without digital auditing systems.
society-governance
asia
pakistan
public
haven
ensured
transparency
major
procurement
contracts
developing
asian
jurisdictions
systems
technology-computing
institutions
digital
global-unspecified
open
United Arab Emirates, Asia
Thermal and reverse-osmosis desalination across West Asian coastal regions consumes immense fossil fuel resources and discharges hypersaline brine back into marine ecosystems, harming coral reefs.
climate-environment
asia
united-arab-emirates
renewable-energy
desalination
west
asian
haven
developed
affordable
tech
powered
renewable
energy
brine
ocean
governance
global-unspecified
Chemical processing and textile dye factories often dump untreated toxic effluents into nearby waterways during off-peak hours, evading traditional periodic government inspections.
society-governance
asia
india
haven
deployed
real-time
water
toxicity
detection
systems
industrial
manufacturing
rivers
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
climate-environment
mathematics-logic
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
Major textile production centers generate vast amounts of fabric offcuts and synthetic water pollutants that end up in landfills or local ecosystems rather than being recycled into new textiles.
economics-resources
asia
bangladesh
textile
haven
scaled
circular
economy
models
garment
manufacturing
waste
major
climate-environment
global-unspecified
whether
water
african
In vulnerable regions of South and Southeast Asia, administrative delays in distributing emergency relief after sudden floods or cyclones push near-poor households back into extreme poverty before government assistance arrives.
climate-environment
asia
bangladesh
haven
integrated
shock-responsive
social
protection
systems
capable
automatically
disbursing
aid
society-governance
climate
global-unspecified
real
time
Over-application of agrochemicals has accelerated insect resistance in rice and vegetable farming, causing sudden pest outbreaks and severe localized crop failures.
health-biology
asia
vietnam
pest
resistance
haven
halted
proliferation
against
conventional
pesticides
intensive
monsoon
systems
building
antimicrobial
early
detecting
High real estate costs and energy requirements hinder vertical farming and aquaponics from providing cheap, fresh produce to low-income urban populations.
economics-resources
asia
japan
urban
haven
scaled
closed-loop
agriculture
architectures
densely
populated
asian
megacities
climate-environment
global-unspecified
african
cities
systems
Warming temperatures enable dengue- and malaria-carrying mosquitoes to breed at higher elevations in Nepal and Bhutan, infecting unprepared mountain populations.
health-biology
asia
nepal
higher
mountain
haven
contained
re-emergence
vector-borne
tropical
diseases
expanding
altitude
climate-environment
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
ecosystems
prevent
