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
Drone delivery has been tested in various cities, but noise, safety concerns, and airspace regulation have kept it from becoming a mainstream, everyday urban service. Solving these combined challenges remains an ongoing barrier.
science-space
global-unspecified
drone
delivery
urban
haven
solved
build
systems
operate
safely
quietly
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
society-governance
cities
technology-computing
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Cameras and sensors used in security or autonomous systems still perform noticeably worse in poor visibility conditions than in daylight, creating real safety and reliability gaps. Closing this performance gap affordably remains unresolved.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
systems
conditions
yet
build
affordable
computer
vision
work
reliably
extremely
society-governance
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
climate-environment
haven
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
GPS doesn't work well inside buildings, and alternative indoor positioning technologies haven't achieved the same reliability and ease of deployment needed for widespread augmented reality navigation use. Solving indoor positioning at scale remains unresolved.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
augmented
reality
navigation
work
gps
build
systems
accurate
enough
reliably
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
climate-environment
economics-resources
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Recycling facilities still rely heavily on human sorters because robotic systems struggle to reliably distinguish between similar-looking but differently recyclable materials. Improving this accuracy could significantly increase recycling efficiency worldwide.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
recycling
haven
solved
build
robotics
capable
sorting
complex
mixed
streams
systems
waste
economics-resources
management
materials
philosophy-ethics
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Physical hardware used in sensitive systems can sometimes be tampered with before installation, and detecting this tampering reliably and affordably remains technically challenging. Closing this hardware security gap remains an unresolved priority.
society-governance
global-unspecified
hardware
systems
don
have
reliable
way
build
affordable
tamper-evident
securing
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Migrating decades-old databases to modern systems carries real risk of subtle data corruption or loss, and fully automated, zero-risk migration tools remain unavailable for many complex legacy systems. This keeps organizations tied to outdated, harder-to-maintain infrastructure.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
systems
legacy
databases
risk
data
loss
build
software
automatically
safely
society-governance
whether
mathematics-logic
climate-environment
philosophy-ethics
across
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fabricated certificates claiming completion of online courses that were never actually finished can undermine trust in credentialing from these platforms. Strengthening verification processes remains an unresolved challenge for online education providers.
social-civic-problems
global-unspecified
online
completion
certificates
platforms
don
have
reliable
way
prevent
systems
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fraudulent internship offers, sometimes requesting upfront fees or personal information, can be convincingly generated to target students eager for career opportunities. Detecting and preventing this scam pattern remains an unresolved challenge for students and universities alike.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
students
internship
offers
eager
don
have
scalable
way
prevent
systems
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Bots or incentivized fake responses can flood academic research surveys, introducing unreliable data that researchers may not always catch before drawing conclusions. Improving survey integrity verification remains an unresolved methodological challenge.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
fake
academic
survey
responses
research
data
integrity
haven
solved
prevent
whether
philosophy-ethics
technology-computing
society-governance
way
systems
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Smart thermostats have improved efficiency, but many systems still require manual adjustment to truly optimize comfort without wasting energy throughout changing conditions. Fully automated, effective climate optimization remains an unresolved technical challenge.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
systems
smart
comfort
energy
efficiency
yet
build
air
conditioning
heating
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
society-governance
technology-computing
haven
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Many home security systems still generate frequent false alerts from pets, shadows, or weather, reducing their practical reliability for identifying genuine security concerns. Improving this accuracy without expensive hardware remains unresolved.
society-governance
global-unspecified
security
home
systems
genuine
yet
build
camera
reliably
distinguish
between
whether
technology-computing
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Many remote communities still lack consistent access to electricity because building traditional grid infrastructure to reach them is prohibitively expensive. Affordable, reliable off-grid alternatives remain incompletely developed and deployed at scale.
local-regional
global-unspecified
affordable
reliable
off-grid
remote
communities
infrastructure
don
have
scalable
way
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Voice recognition systems are typically trained on standard speech patterns, making them significantly less accurate for people with speech impairments or unusual speech patterns. Closing this accessibility gap remains an underaddressed technical challenge.
health-biology
global-unspecified
speech
voice
recognition
people
impairments
don
have
reliable
way
make
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Most human knowledge lives in systems vulnerable to disaster, conflict, or simple neglect, with no single resilient backup for civilization's collective information. A well-protected global archive could safeguard this against permanent loss.
society-governance
global-unspecified
archive
human
knowledge
against
loss
don
have
shared
preserves
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
systems
agreed
way
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
Gödel's incompleteness theorems showed that some mathematical systems can't prove their own consistency from within. Whether our foundational systems are truly contradiction-free remains, in a strict sense, unproven.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
whether
haven
proven
mathematics
entirely
free
hidden
contradictions
systems
del
philosophy-ethics
resolved
know
possible
every
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Some compression methods shrink files perfectly for certain data but fail badly on others, and no universal, lossless method works equally well for everything. Solving this could make data storage and transmission dramatically more efficient.
society-governance
global-unspecified
data
haven
solved
compress
information
any
loss
all
types
some
technology-computing
whether
philosophy-ethics
systems
mathematics-logic
african
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Small errors in chaotic systems like weather or turbulence grow so fast that long-term predictions quickly become unreliable. A better mathematical handle on chaos could improve forecasting in countless fields.
mathematics-logic
global-unspecified
chaotic
systems
haven
found
way
fully
model
accurately
over
long
whether
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
technology-computing
resolved
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Many real-world systems, from weather to economics, are described by nonlinear equations that resist neat, general solutions. Better methods here would improve prediction across nearly every scientific field.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
general
nonlinear
equations
don
have
method
solve
all
types
real-world
society-governance
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
mathematics-logic
systems
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
As AI systems increasingly influence what billions of people see, believe, and decide, someone is effectively choosing the values baked into those systems. There's no agreed process for who that someone should be, or how they should be held accountable.
society-governance
global-unspecified
decide
values
haven
settled
system
hold
systems
someone
increasingly
technology-computing
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
resolved
economics-resources
