Solar-terrestrial prediction services in China began in 1969. In 1990, China joined the International URSIgram and World Days Service (IUWDS). The Regional Warning Center Beijing (RWC-Beijing) of IUWDS was officially approved in China in 1991. In 1996, IUWDS was renamed the International Space Environment Service (ISES). In 2000, RWC-Beijing was renamed RWC-China. RWC-China headquarters is located on the campus of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). Hide

John Alan Chalmers spent almost 40 years working on atmospheric electricity at Durham University, UK. He is particularly remembered in the atmospheric physics community for his accessible and insightful textbook, Atmospheric Electricity. He also supervised over 35 research students. This article, inspired by a Royal Meteorological Society discussion meeting held at Durham, provides an overview of his background, scientific contributions, and legacy to modern atmospheric science. Hide

The lengths of the coastlines in Ptolemy's Geography are compared with the corresponding values transmitted by other ancient sources, presumably based on some lost periploi (literally "circumnavigations", a genre of ancient geographical literature describing coastal itineraries). The comparison reveals a remarkable agreement between them, suggesting that Ptolemy relied much more heavily on these or similar periploi than it used to be thought. Hide