World Solve

Wave energy is abundant and largely untapped, but current technology to harness it reliably and affordably lags far behind wind and solar. Cracking this could add a major renewable source to the global energy mix.

Bees and other pollinators face combined pressure from pesticides, habitat loss, and disease, and addressing just one threat rarely solves the overall decline. A comprehensive solution addressing all major threats together remains unbuilt.

Many products marketed as biodegradable still break down into tiny plastic particles that persist in the environment for years. A truly safe, fully compostable packaging material remains elusive at scale.

In hot, dry climates, a significant portion of irrigation water is lost to evaporation before it ever reaches crop roots. Affordable ways to reduce this loss could ease water stress in agriculture-heavy dry regions.

Chemicals and fertilizers seep into groundwater supplies over years, often going unnoticed until wells become unsafe to drink from. Preventing this contamination before it happens remains far harder than detecting it afterward.

Estimates of forest carbon storage vary significantly depending on the measurement method used, making it hard to track progress on climate goals tied to reforestation. More precise, consistent measurement remains an open challenge.

Wetlands filter water and protect against flooding, but restoring one once it's been drained or built over is far harder than protecting it in the first place. Better restoration techniques remain limited and expensive.

Manufacturing solar panels currently involves energy-intensive processes and some toxic materials, undercutting part of their environmental benefit. A cleaner production process would make solar energy's benefits more complete.

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.

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.

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.

Plastic waste in the ocean is well documented, but pinpointing exact sources at a granular level remains difficult, making targeted prevention harder. Better tracking could focus cleanup and policy efforts where they matter most.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Satellite internet can reach remote areas traditional cables can't, but current pricing puts it out of reach for many of the people who need it most. Bringing the cost down could close a major digital divide.

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.

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.

Hiring tools, loan approval systems, and other automated decisions can unintentionally replicate historical biases present in their training data. Fully eliminating this bias while keeping systems useful remains unresolved.