Small problems that need to be solved

70 Everyday Problems That We All Know And Hate

If you have a sensitive disposition you might want to avert your eyes now as these 20 photos will have you pulling your hair out in frustration! We all have the usual worries and everyday problems in life like paying bills and so on. But it’s those little annoyances which drive us all insane. These 20 examples of first world problems might seem like nothing but they can and often do totally spoil your day.

Ice cream melting over your hands

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Binders not clipping together

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Cartons not opening properly

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Video buffering

PBNation

Not folding laundry

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Bed sheet coming off mattress

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Needing to pee once you’re in bed

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Pencil’s not sharpening properly

VitaminHa

When you need to get a bug out of the house

NedHardy

When the adapter is overly big

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Running out of milk

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Dropping a biscuit into your drink

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Not being able to get your hand down the tube

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Nail tags

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Shutting the lid on toothpaste when it was still coming out

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Getting your jeans caught on a door handle

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When things don’t tear properly

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Rolling your chair over a lead

Duelos

When the insides leak out

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Biscuit too big for glass

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Box openings not opening

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Can tags breaking before opening

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Cars that block the road

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Chop sticks breaking

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Dropping your spoon in your soup

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When someone eats from the middle of the pan

People who park over the lines

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People who put bags on seats

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When tags don’t peel off things easily

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When you have to print your tickets at home

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Talking to people behind glass

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Too much packaging

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Washing tablets getting caught

Toothpaste falling off toothbrush

Sellotape never rips off right

Cutting your nails too far

When a switch works the opposite way to the rest

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Clothes getting caught on zipper

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Constant update notifications

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Inconsiderate drivers

When foil doesn’t come off the roll in one piece

Cold tea

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Trying to spell caterpillar

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Butter not spreading on bread properly

When your alarm clock fails

When you paid for a window seat

Things getting stuck to the lid of the box

Decking not being symmetrical

Dropping your fork in your food

Cold glass being wet on the outside

Ripped jeans

Light switches that don’t call go the same way

Still not knowing what switch does what

Things not matching up

Cluttered computer background

Services that take your instructions literally

Stair posts not matching

When your GPS things your somewhere else

Labels not peeling off

Seals not coming off together

People who block the window seat

Bad designs

Using two apps for one task

When things don’t match up

Tangled earphones

Uneven artwork

Wide gaps between doors in public bathrooms

When toilet roll doesn’t rip properly

Volume symbol blocking screen

When your order number is missing from the screen

The Top 50 'First World Problems'

These sorts of irritations really are so trivial. Imgur

Having a runny nose is considered to be the biggest first world problem, new research has revealed.

The survey, compiled by animal charity SPANA, asked 2,000 adults in Britain to share their gripes and found that 30 million Britons experienced a first world problem every day.

Other problems to make it onto the list of 50 included issues with technology such as only having 3G signal rather than 4G, not having WiFi and recording clashes on the TV. Chipped nail polish and pulling a muscle from exercise also featured.

The survey also found 85 per cent of Brits liked to moan about something and around 90 per cent believed being concerned about small problems was "human nature".

But Jeremy Hulme, chief executive of SPANA, said the problems in the list were "trivial".

“It’s so easy for minor, everyday problems to seem like a big deal, and most people in Britain admit to losing perspective at times."

"But these sorts of irritations really are so trivial compared to the problems faced daily all around the world – by both people and animals."

Here is the full list:

1.Having a runny nose

2.Call from unknown numbers

3.Being left on hold when calling a company

4.Receiving a ‘we missed you’ card for a failed parcel delivery

5.People who ignore queuing etiquette

6.Having no WiFi

7.Having to pay 5p to carry your own shopping home

8.Door-to-door salespeople

9.Having a bad phone signal

10.Not being able to find the end of the sellotape

11.Having to stand on public transport

Commuters brave the rush hour on the northern line on the London underground in London, Britain August 5, 2015.

REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

12.Wanting to log into an account but being unable to remember the password

13.Not finding anything you like when clothes shopping

14.Having to use a tin opener when the tin doesn’t have a ring pull

15.No-one replaced the toilet roll

16.Running out of milk

17.Online deliveries arriving late

18.Unexpected items in the bagging area at self-checkouts

19.Dunking a biscuit and losing half of it in the cup of tea

Owner Arturo Azinian works in his shoe repair shop in Beverly Hills, California April 24, 2015. Azinian is an 88-year-old Beverly Hills cobbler famous for saving the fancy footwear of the elite in the ritzy 90210 zip code.

Just steps from boutique-lined Rodeo Drive sits the decidedly unglamorous Arturo's Shoe Fixx, where Azinian, an Argentine immigrant, toils for 13 hours a day in a warren of whirring machines and shoes stacked to the ceiling. While handling shoes worth hundreds and thousands of dollars, Azinian is utterly clueless about the famous people to whom they belong. REUTERS/Mario Anzouni

20.Satsumas that have loads of pips in

21.Blisters from new shoes

22.Not being able to fast forward live TV

23.Your neighbour parking outside your house when they already have more parking space than you

24.When public transport doesn’t turn up on time

25.A Sky+ recording clash

26.Tea going cold

27.A wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear

28. Hotels with plug sockets too far from the mirror/bed

29.Not having 4G signal, merely 3G

Samantha Cameron and Prime Minister David Cameron are pictured on a private plane as they fly from Blackpool to London on May 3, 2010 on May 3, 2010. WPA Pool / Getty Images

30.Sitting in front of or near children on a plane

31.Forgetting your gloves on a cold day

32.Crème eggs not being on sale all year round

33.Takeaway takes too long to be delivered

34.Important emails go into the junk folder

35.Having so much ice in a drink you can’t get to the actual drink

36.When there is a power cut and you can’t watch TV or make a cup of tea

37. Deliveries or meter reading visits at awkward times

38.It’s freezing outside but boiling in the office

39.Having to package up and return clothes you bought online and don’t want

Wikimedia Commons

40.Chipped nail polish

41.Running out of hot water

42.Ladders in tights

43.Leaving the phone charger at home

44.Shop assistant giving you coins instead of a note as change

45.Wine/tea/coffee staining your teeth

46.Tea that is over-brewed and has scum at the top

47.Long queue in the coffee shop

48.Not having matching bed linen and towels

49.The taxi driver arrives late

50.A pulled muscle after exercise

Top 10 challenges humanity will face by 2050

Brian Lufkin
BBC Future

1 September 2017

Image copyright, Getty Images

Photo caption,

Floods such as those in Texas could become commonplace by 2050

Many of the things that threaten humanity or cause us to think in dismay, we are already facing: overcrowding, the effects of nuclear energy, the gap between the rich and the poor… But there are also problems that are gradually maturing in order to stand before us in full growth by the middle of this century.

What will happen to the world in 30 years? It is impossible to say for sure, but the development of science and technology gives us clues. Here are just a few of the potentially big challenges of tomorrow.

HUMAN GENETIC MODIFICATION

Discussions about a new technology that allows editing human DNA are getting livelier, the voices for and against are getting louder.

The technology is called Crispr (pronounced as the English "crisper", that is, "clearer" - Translator's note ), and theoretically it allows you to change DNA in such a way that it does not remain triggers for diseases such as cancer.

Looks great, doesn't it? Now let's look at the dark side of this discovery from the point of view of ethics.

Won't the application of this technology lead to the pursuit of "designer babies" in which vain (and rich) parents want to invest all their unrealized ambitions?

Doesn't this look like eugenics, the selection of "right people" with given intellectual and physical qualities?

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Who can be considered human? We still don't know

While this technology is not widely used to call it one of the main problems of today, however, we must be prepared for the fact that by 2050 the questions that are already emerging will sound loud and relevant.

Can we ensure that ethicists are involved in making decisions about this or that experiment to change human DNA in every laboratory, in every university, in every corporation?

"When technology is creating more and more opportunities at such a speed, it's very difficult to find time to reflect on the ethical side of the offer," says Nicholas Agar, Professor of Ethics at the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand).

"This is not a quick matter, but we will have to decide what exactly makes a person a person and what things it is better not to touch."

INCREASING OLD POPULATION

Our planet's population is not just growing. We also live longer - which is wonderful in itself, but older people need more help from society, and sometimes special care.

The number of those who lived to be 100 years old will increase by more than 50 times by 2100 - from today's 500,000 to more than 26 million. The number of states with a large number of people over 65 will grow in the world.

Invisible people: a sociologist on how the elderly live in Russia
Can meditation slow down our aging?

And in the next few decades, we will have to solve the issue of proper care for the elderly (in Japan, the use of robots for this is already planned).

Perhaps laws are needed to allow more immigrants to enter the country in order to somehow cope with the steady aging of the population and the declining birth rate.

DISAPPEARING CITIES

Rising sea levels are causing some cities to disappear - just look at what's happening in Miami.

The climate is changing, and it's not just floods like in Texas. Changes in the weather lead to changes in the design of cities. Not to mention special dams, more buildings with a high ground floor will have to be built.

Image copyright, Getty Images

Photo caption,

Flooding and rising sea levels are already common in areas like Florida. Will it get worse next?

But these are all temporary measures. If current climate trends continue, we will have to accept the loss of entire islands, parts of cities and regions below sea level. The economic effect of this will be very serious, and "climate" refugees will become common.

Why did Hurricane Harvey cause so much destruction?
Hurricane Harvey: is there a link to global warming?

If climate change leads to mass migration, the infrastructure of large cities and the economies of those countries to which people flock will face severe problems and, possibly, a real crisis.

EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

The Internet, social networks in the last decade have made our communication, on the one hand, easier, and on the other hand, they have created many new, hitherto unknown to mankind problems.

Considering that already now most people get their news from social networks, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (or what will replace them by 2050) will not disappear from our lives.

What will social networks look like in 30 years? And what new dangers will they bring into our lives?

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One of them is a world without the right to privacy. This problem is already being felt. Taking away our right to anonymity, social networks give us such new problems as cyberbullying (Internet harassment).

Many public and charitable organizations have already been mobilized to fight Internet trolls, but whether law enforcement agencies and social media companies will be able to cope with this disgusting phenomenon or whether things will only get worse is a big question.

And take the problem of the information diet: if the amount of ubiquitous fake news remains the same, how will this ultimately affect people's views, how will it change their worldview?

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Left fakes: who is driving the wave of "liberal" fake news?
News and "Photoshop": how to distinguish a fake

If month after month, year after year, decade after decade a person consumes unverified, fake news, his ability to conduct a civilized discussion and be a member of a civilized society is questionable.

Optimists will say: social networks have appeared in our lives so rapidly that all problems will soon be solved. Maybe so - after all, Facebook, after all, is only 13 years old. And we just can't imagine what kind of Internet problems we will face in 30 years.

NEW GEOPOLITICAL FRICTIONS

Last year, we saw the fragile geopolitical balance that took many decades to achieve unravel before our very eyes. Political stability in the world in the next 30 years is a big question mark.

North Korea launches rockets. Thousands of refugees cross borders to escape war and violence. Hackers interfere with elections in other countries. Nationalist sentiments are growing all over the world. Britain's exit from the EU calls into question the future of this union.

In the chaos that has engulfed the world, the role of ordinary diplomacy, the ordinary ability to talk to each other, is growing extraordinarily.

TRANSPORT SAFETY

Despite rapid urbanization, high-speed bullet trains, and fantastic Hyperloop technology, cars aren't going anywhere. In the next 20-30 years there will be even more of them on the roads.

Self-driving car technology is becoming more and more popular, leading players in the world of automotive and high-tech are rushing to release cars without a person behind the wheel on the streets of cities.

Image copyright, Getty Images

Image caption,

Car ownership is on the rise in fast-growing countries like China

But - with or without a person - the number of cars on the road, according to research, will grow rapidly. For countries such as China, where the middle class is growing, this is becoming a big problem in terms of environment and infrastructure.

Elon Musk's Hyperloop capsules broke their own speed record of
Britain begins testing self-driving trucks

So, we have to decide how to keep the roads safe, fight pollution and not make self-driving cars a new threat to the lives of citizens.

DRYING NATURAL RESOURCES

Technology and gadgets of the 21st century require rare earth components: the average smartphone is made up of more than 60 "ingredients". Natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate.

The dead lake of our technological pride

It is estimated, for example, that in China, where 90% of rare earths are mined, their reserves will run out in 20 years. And it will be extremely difficult to find an equivalent replacement.

COLONIZATION OF OTHER PLANETS

Will space tourism companies be able to guarantee the safety of their customers? Will we be able to find a way to colonize Mars and other planets, as Stephen Hawking calls for?

Space travel: will apple trees bloom on Mars?
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How to overthrow the Martian dictatorship

Only state aerospace agencies and billionaires can now fly into space, but as their availability grows, new problems will begin to arise - with space logistics, space security and space diplomacy.

EXPANDING OUR BRAIN

Now it is quite common to take stimulants (such as coffee) to improve brain function. Smartphones provide our brains with additional "external" memory. And what will happen in a few decades?

Imagine pills that help us think much faster than we do now, and implants that allow us to focus on work in a way that the average person can't. All this is already being developed in laboratories around the world.

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Medicine of the future: how bioglass will revolutionize surgery

The question arises: what about those of us who cannot afford to buy these "improvers"? Will it deepen the chasm of inequality, allowing the rich to get even richer?

But there are also legal and ethical aspects: drinking coffee before an exam is one thing, but an implant or special pills is quite another. We still cannot even imagine all the problems that may arise in connection with the use of artificial "intelligence amplifiers".

Image copyright, Getty Images

Image caption,

If you don't have anything to feed your family, you can't take brain pills

THE GROWING IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Renowned American futurist Ray Kurzweil made many predictions in his time for the future - some of them are very inspiring, others are frankly disturbing.

One of these predictions says that one day artificial intelligence will surpass human and begin to develop on its own at a monstrous rate, reaching the so-called singularity (the point in time from which machines begin to improve themselves, without the help of anyone - Note translator ).

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Not everyone agrees with this prediction, but few deny that artificial intelligence will continue to develop further and further. As with editing human DNA, we need to understand the ethical and societal implications of this as artificial intelligence invades more and more areas of human activity, from healthcare to finance.

To be honest, the implementation of the scenario of the complete destruction of humanity by artificial intelligence is unlikely, but this should not prevent us from understanding: artificial intelligence can change our lives beyond recognition.

It is also possible that certain devices controlled by this intelligence, due to technical problems, can get out of human control. And then there will be a real threat of a global catastrophe - either with the loss of many human lives, or with the loss of millions of dollars.

Read the original of this article in English at BBC Future .

Five problems that humanity must solve in order to survive

Synthetic biology

Modern biotechnologies make it possible to modify genetic material, organisms and entire biological systems. This branch of science is growing rapidly and scientists hope to defeat diseases through it, for example by releasing mosquitoes into the wild that suppress the transmission of the Zika virus or yellow fever, and save endangered animal species.

At the same time, synthetic biology can lead to unpredictable and undesirable consequences. Progress can no longer be stopped, but UNEP is calling on the international community to develop clear rules to prevent undesirable consequences of the uncontrolled release of genetically modified organisms into the environment.

Ecological links

Large-scale industrialization has led to the fragmentation of ecological systems that have been interconnected for centuries. Deforestation or the construction of dams on large rivers is an intervention, sometimes rude, in the life of living creatures inhabiting these places. It can lead to the extinction of animals and the devastation of large areas.

Today, scientists are proposing new ways to maintain links or restore bridges between ecosystems, from marine reserves to wildlife 'corridors' that will preserve biodiversity.

Melting permafrost

Global warming is causing the melting of permafrost, which today occupies a significant part of the surface of the Northern Hemisphere. As a result, solid soil becomes liquid. Scientists are very concerned about the high pace of this process, as it poses a threat to both the environment and infrastructure, which will inevitably be destroyed.

Melting permafrost releases large volumes of substances accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years of glaciation. Plant and animal remains begin to rot, releasing methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This, in turn, further accelerates the process of global warming. It turns out a vicious circle.

UNEP hopes that scientists will be able to find a way to prevent or slow down the rate of permafrost melting.

Nitrogen pollution

There is a lot of nitrogen in nature, and this substance mainly has a beneficial effect on the environment and humans. However, human activity has led to a change in the nitrogen cycle, and in excessive amounts this substance poses a serious threat to all living things. Nitrous oxide, for example, is 300 times more dangerous as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. This compound significantly degrades the quality of air, soil, water and destroys the ozone layer.

There is a need for international cooperation to ensure that the nitrogen cycle is sustainable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

Failure to adapt to climate change

Evolution depends on the ability of organisms to adapt to changes in their environment. In the issue of climate change, solutions must be global and long-term, UNEP is convinced. The most important thing, as experts point out, is to avoid temporary measures that may seem like a solution to the problem, but in fact, after a while, you will have to return to it.

For example, by 2050, 5.7 billion people will experience shortage of drinking water. Many countries, in connection with this trend, are reclaiming groundwater, reducing consumption and desalinating seawater. These measures, according to scientists, do not justify themselves in the long term. Instead, experts recommend implementing methods to use rainwater and treat wastewater.

Or here's another example when they wanted the best, but as a result no one won. In the wake of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in the US, scientists have proposed greening large areas around New Orleans and other affected areas to act as a buffer against future flooding. This meant the resettlement of large masses of people - mostly low-income African Americans, and the authorities abandoned this idea.

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