Kaya, environment reporter Peter de Kruijff here.

It feels like the whole world is celebrating the 100th birthday of natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

Sir David hit a century on the planet on Friday and, as is customary in the UK, got a letter from King Charles to make the milestone.

The pair first met when the king was a boy about 60 years ago, before colour television.

"Over those decades, you have revealed the beauty and wonders of nature to audiences around the world, in new and marvellous ways," the king wrote.

"In so doing, you have shared my determination to highlight the urgent need to protect and preserve this precious planet of ours and all life on Earth for future generations."

Sir David's lifework is not just inspirational to royalty — many people have taken up jobs as scientists after watching his documentaries.

Quite often some of them even name new species after Sir David, like entomologists from London's Natural History Museum did especially for his birthday.

And it's a whole new genus of parasitic wasp, Attenboroughnculus tau.

The species name of Tau comes from the Greek letter for t. That's because of two big t-shapes on the wasp's abdomen. Perhaps its common name may be "Attenborough's t wasp" one day.

The scientists behind the wasp's description also got handwritten letters from Sir David — the king of nature shows — thanking them for their work.

Sir David is always chuffed to get a species or genus named after him.

His favourite, which you can read in a story about his life in his own words, being a genus of plesiosaur-like dinosaurs: Attenboroughsaurus.

The Science Show has also been celebrating Sir David's birthday.

Meanwhile, Lab Notes looks at the slowing down of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a big current that moves water and energy around the planet, and why it may spell disaster.

That's all for this week. If you have thoughts on this week's newsletter, a scientific photo or a favourite quote from Sir David to share, get in touch by sending an email.

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