ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Smale's problems

Smale's problems are a list of mathematical questions that were proposed by a famous mathematician named Stephen Smale. These problems are very complicated and can only be solved by experts in the field. In fact, some of these problems have yet to be solved!

Think of these problems like really hard puzzles that only a handful of people in the world can solve. The puzzles are about shapes and how they move in space. For example, one of the problems asks how a rubber band can be stretched and twisted in space without breaking or getting stuck. Another problem asks how to predict the behavior of a chaotic system, like the weather.

Scientists have been working on these problems for many years, and while some have been solved, there are still many that remain a mystery. Even though these problems are really difficult, scientists keep trying to solve them because if they can, they will have a better understanding of how the world works.

So, in short, Smale's problems are a set of super challenging math puzzles that mathematicians have been trying to solve for decades, and they are important because they help us better understand the world around us.
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