Skip to content

Search problems, genes, families, sources

Find a problem Families All problems Notation & genes About

Loading…

A living collection from the Altringer Eagle Lab at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering. Problems come from expert input and from what experts publish: research agendas, standards roadmaps, agency reports. The Problem Genome system drafts each write-up, and its sources are checked before it enters the collection. It can make mistakes. It exists to put problem definition at the center of innovation. Problem definitions here can be cited, and so can improvements to them. Teams can reach domain knowledge early and contribute what they learn.

How write-ups are checked Take the data Bring us a problem Teach with the collection

Genome › Breakthrough needed

Breakthrough needed · gene 5 of 15

stitching data together

132 problems carry this gene · breakthrough:data-integration

Often every piece of the answer already exists: in a hospital database, a satellite feed, a decades-old paper archive. The pieces can't be used together because they have different formats, different definitions, and different owners. These problems are unlocked by combining those sources into one analytical pipeline, so that questions spanning all of them can be asked.

Related genes

smarter math or softwarealgorithmthe data or hardware exists, and what's missing is a computational method that can do the job an agreed scoring methodstandardthe measurement is possible, and what's missing is an agreed method so everyone's results mean the same thing · added August 2026 — under review for its first hundred uses joining separate fieldsknowledge-integrationthe answer needs methods from different disciplines that have never been combined into one framework can't measure what mattersdatathe data needed to understand or improve the situation is missing, inaccessible, or too poor to use

How to recognize it

List the datasets a solution would need and ask whether each one already exists somewhere. If the barrier is joining them, because of mismatched formats, incompatible identifiers, or systems never built to connect, and nothing new needs collecting, this gene applies.

Our system re-reads samples blind to test genes like this one. Genes it disagrees on are drawn dashed.

132 problems in 17 fields. Filter them, then share the link.

field: the built worldthe car arrives, the record doesn'tthe rules got in the waymedium field: food & the living worldasbestos-free, says the paperworkbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinea dollar a dose, three suppliersthe economics don't workhigh field: making & materialsone powder, two passportsthe rules got in the waymedium field: water & energyinvisible water, no treatybuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energythe sewage that never arrivesmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: water & energywhere the sludge goes, nobody countsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energysprings nobody measuredbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energyforever chemicals with no return addressbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: the built worldpollinator meadow or deer blind?tested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldfog between the sensors and the satellitetested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldmodels that stop at the loading docktested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energywells nobody wrote downtested in the wrong worldhigh field: society & learningexperiments without facesbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningearly grades off the mapbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningon top of paskettitested in the wrong worldmedium field: society & learningthe invisible curriculumbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: making & materialsbuying the mine sight unseenthe economics don't workmedium field: water & energywhen the lights go out on the loanthe economics don't workmedium field: digital & spaceentitled, but unenrolledbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: the built worldthe container disappears between ship and railbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: the built worldforty formats to move one boxbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: digital & spaceten thousand satellites, no traffic controltested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldfishing boats that go darktested in the wrong worldmedium field: society & learningpoisoned in three countries, treated in noneit fell between the crackshigh field: society & learninginjured on the job, invisible to the systemthe rules got in the wayhigh field: society & learningthe algorithm sets the pace, the body paysit fell between the cracksmedium field: health & medicinemalnutrition measured by the wrong bodymeasured the wrong thinghigh field: health & medicinethe experiment worked oncetested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinea hundred formats, no translationbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldtwo billion people's water, almost no monitoringit fell between the crackshigh field: water & energygrid systems that refuse to talkbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: water & energysame gas, four diagnosesthe rules got in the waymedium field: society & learningconfident in the sim, lost with the patienttested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacethe bill of materials is missing most partsit fell between the cracksmedium field: digital & spacethe satellite can't see the settlements that need ittested in the wrong worldmedium field: digital & spacethe scoreboard is corruptedtested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacedata governance built without askingbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: digital & spacefive decades of government software, none compatiblebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: digital & spacethe code rots before the paper is citedtested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldasphalt graded for yesterday's weathertested in the wrong worldmedium field: the built worldrain gardens with no scorecardmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: society & learningtwenty years in a temporary camp, the well runs dryit fell between the cracksmedium field: society & learningnobody agrees how many people are in the camptested in the wrong worldmedium field: health & medicinehalf the cancer studies don't repeatbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldevery city counts its emissions differentlytested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energygreen by paperwork, not by physicsthe rules got in the wayhigh field: water & energythe carbon before the server turns onmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: society & learninga thousand ways to name the same skillit fell between the cracksmedium field: society & learningthe degree burned with the universityit fell between the cracksmedium field: society & learningthe algorithm marks down how you talktested in the wrong worldhigh field: society & learningthe transcript stayed behindit fell between the cracksmedium field: digital & spacedigital twins that can't be stitched togetherbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: digital & spaceis it biology or just a different labtested in the wrong worldmedium field: digital & spaceno ruler fits every machinetested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldask two countries, get two carbon numbersit fell between the cracksmedium field: the built worldweeks to turn a scan into a modeltested in the wrong worldmedium field: making & materialscircular in theory, linear in factit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe tractor can't talk to the sensorbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldgovernments pay to overfishthe rules got in the wayhigh field: the built worldthe levee invited the neighborhoodthe rules got in the wayhigh field: society & learningloans that lifted, then buriedmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: health & medicinethe tumor evolves faster than the plantested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinesequenced here, stored somewhere elseit fell between the crackshigh field: health & medicinethe count that never leaves the districtbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinesepsis outruns the doctortested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe mouse said it was safetested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldshade won't save a humid citytested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldthe forecast speaks celsius, the farmer needs rain datesbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe invisible seed marketbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe payout comes when it shouldn'ttested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldsick land with no diagnosistested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicineside effects only some people reportbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldeighty percent of foods with no footprint datatested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldone pallet, three different temperaturestested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldninety-eight percent of u.s. chemicals, never assessedtested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energythe turbines behind get cheatedtested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacemissing data that isn't randomtested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacesafety-critical ai with no benchmarkmeasured the wrong thingmedium field: the built worlddifferent answers for one building's carbonit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldcool parks in rich neighborhoodsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldwe can't tell healthy soil from dead soilit fell between the cracksmedium field: food & the living worldthe sensors that grade themselvestested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldsee-and-avoid at two hundred knotsthe rules got in the wayhigh field: health & medicineno alarm before the last breaththe economics don't workhigh field: health & medicinethe joint replacement corrodes in silencethe rules got in the wayhigh field: health & medicinenearly eighty thousand tests, no fda oversightbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinelocked into one brand's pancreasbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinerecalled but not foundbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinecleared for market, never followed upbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineevery lab, a different answerthe rules got in the wayhigh field: health & medicineside effects that arrive in twenty yearsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinethe algorithm moved on, the approval didn'tthe rules got in the wayhigh field: health & medicineapproved without proofbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinecleared by a ghost devicethe rules got in the wayhigh field: digital & spacesome solar storms kill, and we can't tell whichtested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialsthe lab robot can't read its own resultstested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialssame recipe, different quantum materialtested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialsa decade to design each catalystit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe eye that doesn't exist yettested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldnobody knows how much water the snow holdstested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldmeasuring ice loss at the wrong resolutiontested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldthe ice model and the climate model won't mergetested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energypromised megawatts, delivered by weatherit fell between the crackshigh field: digital & spaceten times the data, same computing budgetbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: digital & spaceten million alerts before dawntested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldfive billion tonnes of carbon, unmeasuredtested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldsmart city pilots that can't talk to each otherit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe fault line keeps its schedule secretit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldtwice the atmosphere's carbon, thawing unmodeledtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldevery hillside plays by different rulestested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worlddisasters that multiply, models that don'tit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe biggest unknown in the climate forecasttested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacesolar storms arrive before the forecastit fell between the crackshigh field: digital & spacethe training data might be lyingit fell between the crackshigh field: digital & spacechoose privacy or accuracy, not bothit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldbillions in monitoring, forecasts still failtested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energypipes sized by a 1940s formulathe rules got in the wayhigh field: making & materialsevery printed part needs its own certificationtested in the wrong worldhigh field: society & learningdigitized aid that disabled refugees can't reachit fell between the crackshigh field: making & materialsrecycled plastic means whatever you wantthe rules got in the wayhigh field: water & energytwo million miles of pipe, no failure maptested in the wrong worldmedium field: making & materialsfactory data in a thousand locked drawersbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldfood needs water, neither system talksit fell between the cracksmedium field: food & the living worldtraced on five platforms, connected on nonebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinefaxes to approve a scanit fell between the cracksmedium field: health & medicinethe app was prescribed, the outcome unknownthe rules got in the waymedium field: water & energythe battery worked in the labtested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energythe building has no twintested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energythe savings were never realmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: food & the living worldsatellites see the spill but not its depthtested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldknock out power, lose water, lose everythingtested in the wrong worldhigh