Research Challenges • Educational Simulation
Achieve sustained, net-positive fusion energy at commercial scale. Would provide virtually limitless clean energy.
How do we reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity? String theory, loop quantum gravity, and other approaches compete.
Dark matter makes up 85% of the universe's mass but we cannot detect it directly. What is it made of? WIMPs? Axions? Something else?
How does physical brain activity give rise to subjective conscious experience? The "hard problem of consciousness" remains unsolved.
How do we ensure advanced AI systems reliably do what humans want? As AI becomes more capable, alignment becomes critical for safety.
Why do we age? Can we slow or reverse aging? Understanding the fundamental mechanisms could extend healthy human lifespan.
Can we accurately predict when Earth systems will hit irreversible tipping points? Critical for preventing catastrophic climate change.
Can we achieve superconductivity at room temperature and ambient pressure? This would revolutionize energy transmission and technology.
How did non-living chemistry become living cells? Understanding abiogenesis would illuminate life's emergence on Earth and elsewhere.
Can every problem whose solution can be quickly verified also be quickly solved? This is the most important open question in computer science and has a $1M prize.
All non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function lie on a critical line. Solving this would unlock deep secrets about prime number distribution.
How do neurons encode and process information? Cracking the neural code would revolutionize our understanding of brain function.
Build fault-tolerant quantum computers that can run algorithms longer than decoherence time. Essential for practical quantum computing.
Why do quantum superpositions collapse to definite states when measured? Copenhagen, many-worlds, and other interpretations compete.
Are there infinitely many pairs of prime numbers that differ by 2, like (11,13) or (17,19)? Recent progress has narrowed the gap.
Every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes. Verified computationally to huge numbers, but proof elusive.
Starting from any positive integer, repeatedly apply: divide by 2 if even, multiply by 3 and add 1 if odd. Does this always reach 1?
Predict a protein's 3D structure from its amino acid sequence accurately and efficiently. AlphaFold made progress but questions remain.
Why does time flow in one direction? Fundamental physics laws are time-symmetric, yet we experience an arrow of time. Why?
Is determining if two graphs are identical (isomorphic) in P, NP-complete, or somewhere in between? Recent quasi-polynomial algorithms offer hope.
Can we develop algorithms that efficiently solve NP-complete problems for most real-world instances, even if worst-case is hard?