World Changing Ideas

BIG PROBLEMS NEED CREATIVE SOLUTIONS, AND THESE PROJECTS DELIVER. SOME ARE TACKLING ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY, WHILE OTHERS ARE USING NEW TECH TO SOLVE OLD PROBLEMS (AND VICE VERSA!). ALL ARE AMBITIOUS ENOUGH TO GET EXCITED ABOUT.

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Reinventing the Landline

Tin Can

WHEN CHET KITTLESON'S DAUGHTER, Emma, turned 7, she wanted to plan her own playdates. Kittleson was glad to see her asking for more agency. But, to reach her friends, she had to go through her parents.

One day at school pickup, Kittleson lamented the problem to other parents: "I was like, 'Man, when we were kids, our first social network was the landline,' and everyone reacted very strongly. People started reciting their best friends' phone numbers."

That interaction inspired Tin Can, a $100 gadget that updates the form factor of the '80s landline for the 21st century-curly cord, dial tone, and all. Since July 2025, Tin Can has sold out five production batches, totaling hundreds of thousands of phones. The company's December 2025 seed round, led by Silicon Valley's Greylock Partners, brought in $12 million-just three months after it raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding.

Unlike dumbphones and apps meant to reduce screen time while still involving a smartphone, Tin Can cuts out digital noise entirely. The phone works via Wi-Fi and an app that lets parents control which numbers it can call and at what times of day. Tin Can-to-Tin Can calls are free; families can pay $9.99 a month for a plan that enables outside calls (both plans support 911 calls).

Kittleson has watched his own kids develop more confidence in their communication after using the Tin Can for several months, and customers have said the same thing. "What kids were longing for when they asked their parents for a phone was connection," he says. -Grace Snelling

Wireless Optical Communication

Taara