The ocean. Pollution, cleanup, how we are affecting the oceans, how changes in the ocean affect us, and ultimately harnessing the oceans for greater good, prefe

The ocean. Pollution, cleanup, how we are affecting the oceans, how changes in the ocean affect us, and ultimately harnessing the oceans for greater good, preferably without destroying them in the process. Space gets a lot of attention, but the oceans are rightthere and we are (rather carelessly) only exploiting the low hanging fruit. Nukes. I know YC has funded a few nuclear power companies, but this seems like an area that still needs a lot of basic research, especially with newer reactor designs. Maybe even some more speculative stuff like fusion. Developing new types of antibiotics. Nobody is really trying, and iChip style devices seem pretty interesting. Even with that, there's still be a ton of work needed to bring new drugs to market. New tools and techniques for evaluating efficacy and pharmacology? For something more exotic, you could study phages. Aging reversal.