Off the top of my head (and assuming arbitrary political/resource requisitioning powers) I might aim for Profoundly Self Sufficient Habitats.
This would basically be a kind of space exploration program on earth. The goal would be to develop a suite of technologies and practices to enable small groups of humans (less than 500) to survive and thrive with a technological civilization for centuries in extreme environments and cultural isolation. We should know how to build a habitat capable of supporting a group of humans generation over generation with construction of more habitat using ambient resources in (1) the Sahara, (2) the Antarctic, (3) deep underground, (4) at sea, (5) near Fukushima or Chernobyl, (6) at the top of Everest, (7) at the bottom of Lake Superior, (8) near deep sea vents, (9) in the upper atmosphere, etc.
You would need a bunch of new technology/culture and it would have to be relatively simple and self supporting, like 3D printers that can print their own components, highly efficient recycling systems, expertise in managing closed ecologies, cultural awareness of the dangers of culture loss/drift in small communities, etc, etc. This technology would probably ha...
Sens is a good anti-ageing initiative - that has the potential to really get rejuvenation research off the ground - I'd like see get more funding.
Although the academy is slowly starting to realize that defeating aging is worth pursuing indirectly by trying to solve standard age related diseases, it is dose by no means put in the effort I liked to see, of course this would require additional funding from "outside" unless we want to stop doing other kinds of medical research. . .
A world-wide ABC sensor network.
Mobile phones are becoming cheaper and more widespread all the time. All new mobile phones could in future be equipped with sensors to detect biological pathogens, hazardous chemical agents and a Geiger counter for measuring radioactivity. The data could then be anonymzed and uploaded to be analyzed and used for the early detection of biological, chemical or nuclear risks.
Such a network could thwart the outbreak of infectious diseases, chemical accidents or nuclear terrorism (e.g. dirty bombs).
A comprehensive world-wide database of medical records, along with a legal framework to enable use of such records in medical research. Software that uses such records to advance medical knowledge.
Research into treatments that reliably prevent in-group bias and can be cheaply, easily, and effectively implemented (preferably at school or similar setting).
...I urge that, with full knowledge of our limitations, we vastly increase our knowledge of the Solar System and then begin to settle other worlds.
These are the missing practical arguments: safeguarding the Earth from otherwise inevitable catastrophic impacts and hedging our bets on the many other threats, known and unknown, to the environment that sustains us. Without these arguments, a compelling case for sending humans to Mars and elsewhere might be lacking. But with them - and the buttressing arguments involving science, education, perspective, and hope
I admit that I stole this one from Sam Harris.
He suggests that if you improved the neuroscience of lie detection and then implemented it in politics that the implications would be huge. Even if it weren't 100% effective, the threat of using it would be enough to deter many. Current lie detection is based on thing like thermal and electrical readings of the skin. However, these are really inaccurate compared to a potential neuroscientific approach.
I can think of two concepts of lie detection. In the first, the statement is compared with objective truth (i.e. Omega says, "Contrary to the Senator's assertion, this tax credit will not create jobs"). In the second, the statement is compared with the contents of the speaker's mind (i.e. Omega says, "The Senator does not believe that this tax credit will create jobs").
The first type of lie detection would be really awesome, but unlikely to be developed based on physiological study because (to paraphrase from X-Files) the truth is not in there.
The second type probably would not be useful in politics because politics is the mindkiller and I predict that most politicians believe the fundamentals of the principles they assert (based on motivated cognition, to some extent). That said, a truly reliable lie detector would be great in litigation. No more he said, she said issues. Of course, there is still the risk that the witness honestly believes some false facts.
I've been leaning towards the conclusion that better innovations in education (this includes both technology and cultural/institutional) would be a huge, multiplicative high level action that would benefit most other initiatives people favor. I strongly doubt we've come close to exhausting the low-hanging fruit in education technique (and in the flexibility to apply techniques as needed to different types of people)
Programs like KIPP applied one major overhaul to the existing system... and then stopped. I'd like to donate to an organization that systematically tries out radically different systems and technological innovations and then attempts to replicate the ones that work.
Approximately how much funding are we talking about? Different projects have widely different funding costs.
Small scale fusion power.
Research challenges: How to get hydrogen to fuse into helium using only 500kg of machinery and less energy than will be produced.
Urgent Tasks: (In-)Validate the results of the fusor people, scale up / down as neccessary.
Reasons: Enormous amounts of energy goes into everything. If energy costs drop significantly, I expect sustained, fast and profound economic growth, in this case without too much ecological impact. Also, a lot of high-energy technology will become way more feasible, e.g. space missions.
I have just received a survey questionnaire regarding future directions in EU (European Union) research funding, and thought it would be interesting to see how LessWrong would answer the main question:
Imagine that EU funding is available for one ambitious, visionary project extending beyond 2020.