Further evidence Parkinson's disease may be triggered in the intestine raises hopes for earlier diagnosis and scientists in South Africa discover the disease trajectory of tuberculosis.

A global sand shortage? Miniaturising the world, disposable drones, womb with a view: can foetuses see? And flatpack food: self-assembling pasta.

David Owen explores the global business of sand in a rather worryingly titled New Yorker article 'The World is Running Out of Sand'.

Miniaturist Mavis Cheyne uses her wood turning, pottery, joinery, embroidery and decorative skills to recreate all kinds of things in tiny scale and amazing detail. We visit her garage workshop to see how she does it.

The US Department of Defense is developing vanishing air vehicles that can make precise deliveries of critical supplies, then vaporise into thin air.

Science news – research suggests 34-week-old foetuses can see in the womb, plus the Zika virus could be used to treat brain cancer and measuring a white dwarf star with light.

Researchers at MIT are trying to save on food transport costs by making meals that can transform from something that looks like a flat sheet of lasagne into macaroni just by adding water. Wen Wang is one of the team.

Gene editing: how much hype? Google's tax bill & the Esssential phone, board game bonanza, and funding fun by fans.

CRISPR Cas9 is a technique used to edit DNA that some say will change medicine, farming and genetic science forever. Biochemist Ian Hayden has been looking at where the technology is at and where it's heading.

The founder of Android launches a smartphone; Google releases its NZ accounts (spoiler alert: it's not paying much tax here), and China introduces new laws for foreign tech companies.