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
As demand grows for minerals used in batteries and electronics, deep-sea mining is expanding into ecosystems that remain poorly understood and could take centuries to recover from disruption. Regulating this before major damage occurs remains an unresolved governance and environmental challenge.
society-governance
global-unspecified
deep-sea
ecosystems
mining
don
have
scalable
way
prevent
depletion
emerging
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
The deep ocean holds vast mineral resources and ecosystems we barely understand, yet no single country has authority over most of it. Without a fair governance system, the deep sea risks being exploited before it's even properly studied.
society-governance
global-unspecified
deep
fair
sea
single
haven
found
way
govern
belongs
nation
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
have
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
This century-old conjecture predicts a hidden pattern in how prime numbers are distributed, but nobody has ever proven it true. A proof would deepen our understanding of numbers in ways that ripple into cryptography and physics.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
numbers
proven
understanding
prime
haven
riemann
hypothesis
central
century-old
conjecture
know
whether
possible
every
mathematical
philosophy-ethics
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Different cultures, religions, and individuals define meaning and purpose in very different ways, with no way to prove one view more correct than another. This makes questions about how to live well deeply personal rather than settled.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
haven
found
universal
answer
meaningful
life
requires
different
cultures
religions
whether
resolved
determine
know
don
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
More people are weighing whether having children is fair to those children, given the environmental future they may inherit. This is a deeply personal question without any broadly agreed answer.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
whether
haven
settled
ethical
bring
child
world
severe
climate
risk
philosophy-ethics
resolved
know
determine
mathematics-logic
don
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Diet and exercise advice hasn't solved the obesity epidemic, and the biological reasons weight loss is so hard to sustain remain only partly understood. A deeper understanding could lead to treatments that actually last.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
obesity
hard
fully
explain
treat
long-term
people
diet
exercise
advice
whether
philosophy-ethics
health-biology
haven
resolved
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fake videos and voice clones are now realistic enough to fool most people, and detection tools often lag behind the technology creating them. Left unresolved, this threatens trust in video and audio evidence itself.
health-biology
global-unspecified
videos
audio
don
have
reliable
way
detect
deepfake
moment
created
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Pacific Ocean, Global
Establish credible baseline science, governance, monitoring, liability, and precautionary thresholds before commercial extraction irreversibly alters deep-sea ecosystems.
society-governance
pacific-ocean
biodiversity
deep-sea
preventing
damage
mining
establish
credible
baseline
science
governance
monitoring
enabling
technologies
continuous
climate-environment
Develop authentication and behavioral safeguards against voice and video impersonation scams that exploit trust between relatives, employees, and customers.
society-governance
preventing
deepfake-enabled
financial
fraud
targeting
families
develop
authentication
behavioral
safeguards
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
prevent
way
being
technology-computing