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A rough patch on a hypersonic heat shield can change a smooth boundary layer into turbulent flow and increase heating. How can engineers predict the onset and heat load from the actual roughness geometry and flight conditions?
Laser-controlled clocks can already use thorium-229 nuclei inside crystals. Can their environmental shifts be measured and controlled well enough to establish a complete fractional-frequency uncertainty near 10^-18?
A very low satellite could scoop up the thin atmosphere and use it as electric-thruster propellant. Can the complete intake and thruster provide sustained thrust exceeding their own drag with available onboard power and no steady stored propellant supply?
An electrolyzer can make hydrogen without circulating caustic solution. Can its catalyst layers keep conducting ions and releasing gas as their polymer binder ages?
An implant can shelter insulin-producing cells and even generate oxygen for them. Can one retrievable device deliver a useful endocrine response at human scale while keeping its cells contained?
A charged flow battery can lose capacity while merely waiting. Can a model forecast how much active organic material will remain when its temperature and charging schedule change?
A bridge crack can appear to seal while salt still reaches the steel inside. How much reliable corrosion delay does healing provide when the crack and exposure keep changing?
Two printed metal brackets can look alike and fail after different numbers of load cycles. Can manufacturing information predict that scatter before every process change requires a new fatigue campaign?
A soft gripper can heal a clean cut. Can it detect an unexpected dirty, gaping injury, restore contact, repair itself and verify that it can carry a load again?
Tiny blood channels can exchange enough oxygen to support a premature infant in a bench test. Can the complete device keep those channels open and compatible with blood during prolonged use?