1. Feeding a growing population.
Earth will be home to some 9.7 billion people by 2050. That's a lot of mouths to feed.
2. Traffic and all its woes.
Traffic jams and their associated delays cost Americans $124 billion dollars in 2013 alone. Just one more reason to get mad the next time your commute takes 20 minutes longer than usual.
3. Rising ocean levels.
With roughly 40% of the world living within 100km of a coastline, rising ocean levels are a very real and very immediate threat.
4. Dirty, polluted air.
According to a recent study, air pollution causes trillions of dollars in damage per year in lost work days and health problems and is also the fourth leading cause of premature death worldwide. Plus, it makes the sky look extremely ugly.
5. Advancing fuel efficiency in all means of travel...
Better fuel efficiency lowers the cost of travel and helps reduce pollution. Too bad it doesn't shorten the lines at security.
6. ...and making that fuel cleaner-burning.
Especially man-powered gliders.
7. Water shortages.
One in 10 people don't have access to clean water. That's 663 million people.
8. Internet connectivity for the entire world.
Less than half of the world's population is online.
9. Making shatterproof glass a reality (finally).
Wait for it...
10. Car accidents.
