We don't know the exact number of dead insects in the collection at the Natural History Museum in London, but it's more than 34 million.

Our collections, for me, are a place of wonder, The specimens(标本) they contain are the biological heritage of the planet: Splendid to look at and packed with genetic information about the past. Some have come to us from across the globe, and make me feel how small I am, as part of nature.

The insect collection stretches back hundreds of years. For example, we have a robber fly caught in 1680 by the queen's gardener at Hampton Court Palace. near London.

Flies are my focus. Not only are they amazingly diverse, but they're cute. We've got stalk-eyed flies; flies that are lousy then a millimetre in sizes and my favourites, Mallophora robber flies, which look like massive bumble-bees and are highly poisonous. I also have a soft spot for botflies, one species of which matures in camels' noses.

The collection isn't static; there's so much research going on. We're always updating the system of naming the in sect so raisin s evolutionary family trees and describing new species.

The museum lends specimens by post, and we host not just scientists, but visitors such as designers looking for inspiration. We're also trying to digitize the entire collection so that anyone can access it.

I'm working with Mara Lawniczak at the Well come Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK. We're trying to recover genomes(基因组) from mosquito samples collected over the past century. In the past, people would cut off legs or destroy whole specimens—which fills a director like me with terror. Instead, we are washing the specimens with chemical solutions to obtain DNA. Genetic analysis will help us to distinguish between old mosquito specimens that look similar, and to learn how populations have changed.

One Saturday last November, I stepped into my local library. I was about to read a book when I heard an elderly man speak to a lady. "This library will soon become a café. Everyone is reading with electronic devices, "he said. Hearing this, I wanted to shout, "I still read library books!" But my words stuck in my throat and I found teenagers around me were talking to friends or staring at their phones.

Reading online feels robotic to me. It's like I stare at a screen and click "next" for the following page to appear until the very end of the e-book, and at the end of all of that, I just think, "That's it?" But when I read a printed book, it's like I'm holding on to the characters. I can visualize the plot better, as I can picture the scenes of each moment in my head with more accuracy and imagination.

Besides, some online books miss components that are in the printed novels. For instance, the physical copy of a fantasy novel I have read contains a map, but the e-book version does not. That is an injustice to e-book users; after reading and interpreting the map, the story made a lot more sense for me, in terms of the setting and plot.

And personally, physically turning to the next page is better than clicking "next". When reading online, I sometimes worry that I click "next" too quickly. It feels more like a race; I want to finish it because the pages just keep making that "flipping" sound and I wonder how long the book really is.

Some printed books have a special smell that makes the novel feel special to me. It's hard to describe but I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks so. I know I cannot convince every teen to switch from the digital book to the printed one, but maybe my writing about the difference will at least get some of them to think about it.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has given more than £ 1 million towards tracking satellites and space junk in orbit.

The money will be given to seven companies that are working on ways to develop new sensor technologies that spot objects in space, working out what they are and track them.

Finding better ways to monitor everything currently in orbit has become a big priority because, with more and more satellites being launched, there is growing concern about the possibility of collisions.

Added to that are around 900,000 objects — made up of old space equipment that no longer works, and junk like gloves and tool kits accidentally dropped by astronauts — that are still in orbit. The UK Space Agency is owned by the government and is responsible for strengthening the UK's position in the space sector (领域).

Although some space junk is very small, only around 1 cm, it could do a lot of damage and even completely destroy a spacecraft if there was a high-speed collision. It is hoped that the new research can create something like an automated traffic management system in the future, which will keep functioning satellites out of harm's way.

Jacob Geer from UKSA said: "space tracking is one of the key things we can do to keep safe those satellites we rely on now, and to make sure certain orbits don't become obstructed for future generations because there is too much junk in them."

The Ministry of Defence and UKSA recently agreed to work together when it comes to space, with both having valuable satellites in orbit that they want to protect.

The UK government is now part-owner of the One Web satellite broadband company, which has launched 74 satellites and has plans to put up thousands more.