World Solve

Addressing deep-sea mining destroying seabed ecosystems is critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda. Current efforts fall short in scale, speed and equity, leaving the most vulnerable behind. Any viable solution must function in low-resource settings with limited specialists, transport, laboratory capacity and broadband. Proposals should specify quantifiable biological, social or environmental outcomes, openly discuss potential risks, and present a realistic pathway for long-term maintenance and local ownership beyond short research pilots.

Homes that charge more for greater daylight access can deepen housing inequality and incentivise light-blocking in poorer units. The challenge is valuing natural illumination without turning it into a luxury surcharge that harms health equity.

When local weather can be bought in advance, wealthier areas may secure preferred conditions while poorer ones experience residual or adverse patterns. The challenge is creating equitable allocation mechanisms for atmospheric resources that do not deepen existing social divides or disrupt larger climate systems.

Some future climate interventions may have planetary effects while remaining scientifically and politically contested. The challenge is designing governance for experimentation, consent, liability, and termination before deployment escalates. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.

Many agricultural and infrastructure systems are designed around historical seasons that may no longer exist. A useful solution must help governments revise calendars, reservoirs, insurance, crops, and public budgets under deep uncertainty. 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.

Political communication will increasingly include deepfakes, voice cloning, and AI-generated persuasion at scale. The challenge is developing election rules, platform standards, and enforcement systems that protect speech while limiting manipulation. The challenge is especially acute in informal settlements, where legacy systems, coordination failures, and weak oversight can magnify harm.

Blockchain can record ownership transactions, but it doesn't inherently verify that the underlying digital artwork itself is original or hasn't been duplicated elsewhere. Solving this deeper authenticity verification remains an unresolved technical gap.

Translating content for different markets requires more than swapping words, since humor, idioms, and cultural references often need deeper adaptation that automated tools still handle poorly. Achieving this at scale and low cost remains an unresolved technical challenge.

Modern software often relies on long chains of interconnected code packages, and a single broken or malicious update deep in that chain can cascade into failures across countless unrelated projects. Making this system more resilient remains an unresolved structural issue.

A few seconds of someone's voice is now enough to generate convincing fake audio of them saying anything, and current detection tools often fail to catch high-quality fakes in real time. This is already being used for financial scams targeting families and businesses.

Antarctic sea-ice changes influence deep-water formation and global heat and carbon transport. Coupled observations and models are essential.

Sub-glacial lakes and channels affect ice dynamics and unique ecosystems, but access is difficult. Remote sensing and careful drilling campaigns can expand knowledge.

Sub-glacial lakes and channels affect ice dynamics and unique ecosystems, but access is difficult. Remote sensing and careful drilling campaigns can expand knowledge.

Europe produces strong scientific research but struggles to grow globally dominant tech firms due to fragmented markets and risk-averse capital. Cross-border venture networks and translational research platforms can bridge the gap.

Hybrid warfare tactics, including deepfakes and targeted propaganda, erode trust and polarise societies. Detection and provenance tools for media and secure civic-information channels are urgently needed.

Hybrid warfare tactics, including deepfakes and targeted propaganda, erode trust and polarise societies. Detection and provenance tools for media and secure civic-information channels are urgently needed.

Objects in the distant solar system could reveal formation history and the presence of rogue planets, but only a few have been discovered. Wide-field deep surveys and improved orbit determination are needed.

Microscopic laws are time-symmetric, yet macroscopic phenomena exhibit irreversibility. Deeper understanding of entropy and quantum measurement could help.

Deep flows and core structure are difficult to infer. Gravity and magnetic measurements from orbiters can improve models.

Long-term low-dose exposure impacts cells and tissues in complex ways. Space biology experiments can inform health protocols.