Generations of microbes evolve in hours, not millennia. By speeding up Darwin’s clock, scientists have watched evolution happen in real time, and it’s changed how we understand natural selection. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-evolution-of-bacteria-2/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Kevin Blake
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

In 1965, married American women did 34 hours of housework weekly. By 2010, that had fallen to 18 hours. The dishwasher wasn’t the only cause, but it certainly helped. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/inventing-the-dishwasher/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Erin Braid
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

English prose has become much easier to read. But shorter sentences had little to do with it. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-logical-triumph-of-english/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Henry Oliver
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

Competition makes capitalism work. A new method for measuring it may be the holy grail of economic regulation.  You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-to-spot-a-monopoly/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Brian Albrecht
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

We disinfect water before we drink it. Germicidal ultraviolet could make airborne disease as rare as those carried by water. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-death-rays-that-guard-life/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Gavriel Kleinwaks & Karam Elabd
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

If we ever want to live in space, we need to work out a way of creating artificial gravity.

You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/inflatable-space-stations/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Angadh Nanjangud
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

Radiology combines digital images, clear benchmarks, and repeatable tasks. But replacing humans with AI is harder than it seems. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-algorithm-will-see-you-now/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Deena Mousa
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

The world is warming faster than we can cut emissions. Volcanoes are already cooling the planet, with particles that reflect sunlight. Maybe we can too. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/sunscreen-for-the-planet/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Daniele Visioni & Dakota Gruener
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

Japan faced some of the world’s toughest planning problems. It solved them by letting homeowners replan whole neighborhoods privately by supermajority vote. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-to-redraw-a-city/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Anya Martin
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett

Every hundred South Koreans today will have only six great-grandchildren between them. The rest of the world can learn from Korea’s catastrophe to avoid the same fate.

You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/two-is-already-too-many/

And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co

Words by Phoebe Arslanagic-Little
Read by Stuart Ritchie
Music by David Hackett