It's Out! Galaxis #5

The latest edition of my little digital free magazined devoted to science and science fiction is now out.

It's Galaxis #5, and it's a special science-fiction television preview issue, with a roundup of upcoming genre shows—Foundation, The X-Files, and more. We've also got an interview with author David Gerrold, a portfolio of Mandelbrot art, a report on the Hugos controversy, seasons 2 and 3 of our Star Trek: The Next Generation episode guide, and much more, including our big reviews section.

Galaxis 4 ... Is not the Last One

I've decided not to end my digital science/science fiction magazine Galaxis with the current issue, #4. I'm working up plans to have a fifth issue after all, and this one should appear in digital and in limited print editions.

So while I put the finishing touches on the first Galaxis Reader book and start pulling together the fifth edition of Galaxis magazine, it's a good time to remind everyone that Galaxis #4 is still available for you to read, free, online.

Read the magazine:

To 4,000 and Beyond – in a Flash

The latest (and last) issue of Galaxis, my free digital magazine of science and science fiction, was only released two weeks ago, but it has already been seen by more than 4,000 people. By way of comparison, it took many months for each of the previous three issues of Galaxis to hit those numbers.

So as an individualist, as much as it pains me to suggest you join the crowd: Join the crowd — because I think you'll find that this personal journey through the worlds of science and SF is thought-provoking, fun, and inspiring. And in a few months when I release the first book-form Galaxis Reader, I hope you'll come along for that evolutionary form of my Galaxis project.

Like the New Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos? Check out Page 7

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is getting good reviews for his new Cosmos TV science series, which premieres tonight (March 9) on National Geographic Channel and Fox.

You can get some good background on this show, who's putting it together, what happened three decades ago, and why it all matters — on page 7 of my latest issue of Galaxis: The Worlds of Science and Science Fiction. It's a free digital magazine, and if you like Cosmos, you might well like Galaxis.

Now Out! Galaxis March 2014 — Science and Science Fiction for You

Just published.

The fourth issue of my free digital science and science fiction magazine, Galaxis, is now available. Star Trek Into Darkness. Europa Reports. Artemis Eternal. El Cosmonauta. Episode guide to the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Ray Kurzweil on the IT transformation of our lives. Space stamps. Classic science fiction movie posters. Tons of reviews, tech news, SF film news, and more.

Read it today.

Can't Wait to Make My Space Popcorn to View the Aquila Flyby

This is why I love NASA, or at least the geeks who work there. In its online listing of "Upcoming Planetary Launches and Events," NASA's calendar lists (and read the whole thing):

2014 May-November - Rosetta - ESA mission reaches Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
2014 November - Philae - ESA Rosetta Lander touches down on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
2015 February 1 - Dawn - Goes into orbit around asteroid 1 Ceres
2015 July 14 - New Horizons - NASA mission flies by Pluto and Charon
2015 August 15 - BepiColombo - Launch of ESA and ISAS Orbiter and Lander Missions to Mercury
2016 March - InSight - Launch of Mars Lander
2231 April 5 - Pluto - is passed by Neptune in distance from the Sun for the next 20 years
4,000,000 - Pioneer 11 - NASA flyby of star Lambda Aquila

I can't wait for 4 million; the media coverage of that is going to be awesome. As long as our alien insect overlords let us stay up late to watch it on the holovid.

Atlanta, We Have a Problem

So, apparently some people think the snowstorm over Atlanta consisted of fake snow. For reals.

I wonder how far our species could advance if we didn't have to spend so much time doing mass remedial science education and debunking crazy claims.

Corning's Glass Computer Interactive Display of the Future

3,000 and Counting!

Have I mentioned that this issue features my reviews of Prometheus, The Long Earth, Measuring the World, and more? Still don't care? Then how about a visit to CERN? An extensive episode guide to the original Battlestar Galactica? A quirky look at the wuxia strains in the Star Wars films? What are you, a robot? How can this not get you excited? Read Galaxis!

That's 3,000 views of this third issue of Galaxis, BTW, in case you were wondering about the blog post headline.

Still Alive

Just thought I should remind you, for you science fiction and science fans

2,000 and Counting

Galaxis, the free digital magazine of science and science fiction, just topped 2,000 views so far. Take a look.

Lucas and Musk and Weinbaum and Hatch and More

I've been hearing from readers near and afar about the third issue of my free digital science fiction & science magazine, Galaxis. Reminds them of the best of the old Starlog magazine. (Everyone knows I like to hear that kind of compliment.) Filled with great info. Give us more.

And so on. Blushing, I am appreciative of all of the people who have emailed, posted, and Facbooked about this third Galaxis issue.

And for those of you who have been waiting for an invitation, here you go. Here's a list of the entire table of contents (and you can click on the image below and see the entire magazine full-size on your computer).

FEATURES
Will We Ever See Blood & Chrome? The fans loved it, SyFy shelved it
Classic Battlestar Galactica Complete episode guide
SpaceX in Space Elon Musk makes private space travel work
The Magicians Meets the TV Gods Lev Grossman’s books get to TV – almost
The Wuxia Road to Star Wars Fans have heard the story’s roots lie in classic Japanese cinema. Look a little further west...
Star Wars in new media A guide to new generations of viewers catching the saga on Blu-ray & in 3-D
Can You Hate the Creator? Are the George Lucas-haters for real?
Another Earth There are those who believe that life out there began out there
FICTION: A Martian Odyssey 
Stanley Grauman Weinbaum’s pathbreaking short story about extraterrestrials
The View from CERN The center of the physics world—the center of the universe, in a way—is in Switzerland
The World According to Charles Yu The author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

DEPARTMENTS
Viewscreen Would Harry Potter lead you wrong?
Launch Tube Lucasfilm and Disney tie the knot, SF politicians, memories of Ray Bradbury, & more news
Imagery Patrick Stewart, and more Culture
Worldly Things Tablets, watches, and oodles of Google
Webbed Website resource
Compendium 
What to see, hear, and do
Game Set The Galaxis Crossword Puzzle and SF Quiz
ReviewScreen Prometheus, The Long Earth, The Incal, Chez Max, Measuring the World, Moebius & more
Next Issue 
The future in Galaxis

To read, click on the image below or go directly to issuu.com page for Galaxis 3.

Just Think About All the Unemployed Death Star Workers

I, personally, am very happy and proud to be living in a nation where the presidential administration, even after making a bone-headed move like promising to respond to any ridiculous petition that gathers 25,000 signatures (which is nothing in the age of social media), employs someone who writes a response like this.

Paul Shawcross, chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget and the writer of the response, is a nerd, and my hero. Or he made great use of Wikipedia when he was writing the denial of the petition.

Republicans might complain that Obama missed an opportunity to add a Death Star to the military budget, and Democrats might complain that the White House passed up a great public works project that could have put to work thousands of people during the construction (not to mention afterward – someone was going to get the franchise for the Burger King in the Death Star food court).

But I have to agree with Shawcross that in these budgetary tough times, we have to put the Death Star on the back burner. Besides, we'll be too busy building a real-life starship Enterprise.

1,000 Points of Sight: Galaxis Number 3

Open publication - Free publishing - More battlestar

The third edition of my free digital science & science fiction magazine, Galaxis, has reached its first milestone in record time. Not even a full month since it was published on issuu.com, Galaxis #3 has racked up 1,000 views. That is, I believe, faster than the previous two issues or any of my digital magazines has reached that milestone.

My thanks to everyone who has looked at the issue, read it, shared it with their blog/Facebook/Twitter followers, sent me feedback, or showered me with offers of glory. Granted, none of the last has happened, but one can hope.

On to 2,000!

A Sky Full of Earths

From the current issue of the Marina Times, my Science article:

An artist’s conception of Kepler-22b, a planet in the
habitable zone of its star. It is the first planet that NASA’s
Kepler mission has confirmed to orbit in a star’s
 habitable zone, but scientists are now finding potentially
 habitable planets by the dozens. photo: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

SCIENCE
A Sky Full of Earths
By John Zipperer
December 2012

Stroll along Crissy Field at night and look up into the sky, and you will see lots of stars. But because of the interference of other lights in the metro area, you won’t see nearly as many stars as someone in the countryside would see.  

For scientists who have been studying stars for years – even decades – the analogous situation for finding planets around those stars is more dire. For millennia, there was widespread doubt ...

Read the entire article...

Print-on-Demand Edition of Galaxis 3 Now Available

Galaxis December 2012

By John Zipperer in Galaxis

84 pages, published 11/18/2012

A magazine of science fiction and science. Featuring Star Wars' mythic background, original Galactica episode guide, SF authors Charles Yu and Lev Grossman, a pictorial visit to CERN and the Large Hadron Collider, short fiction, events, reviews (including our extended Prometheus review), puzzles, and much more.

One week after the free digital version of my latest Galaxis issue came out, the print-on-demand edition is now available. Produced by HP's excellent MagCloud service, the print-on-demand edition is printed when you order it and mailed to you.

It's a tad pricey (welcome to print-on-demand and the post-newsstand world), but if, like me, you enjoy paper and digital magazines, it is a great option. Please note that the price for this print-on-demand edition is purely for the printing and mailing; I receive not a penny from the paper edition.

If you just want the free digital edition (which you can even download to your computer – desktop, smartphone, tablet, whatever), you might want to try my other digital publishing partner, issuu.

And many thanks to the folks who have already given me feedback on this issue. I'm blushing.

Now out: Galaxis #3 -- Free Digital Science Fiction and Science Magazine

Open publication - Free publishing - More battlestar

Galaxis Hits 5,000

Open publication - Free publishing - More comics

The second issue of Galaxis magazine, my digital science fiction/science magazine, has reached 5,000 readers.

I'm still hip-deep in putting together the third issue; I clearly have missed the ship date for Galaxis three (or Galaxis drei, as I refer to it internally, keeping with the German name). But this third issue will be the biggest yet, and it will include an analysis of Star Wars' mythic roots, a complete episode guide to the original Battlestar Galactica (as a complement to my guide to the new Galactica in Galaxis two – or Galaxis zwei, if you're still with me), an update on Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, checking in with rising young science fiction author Charles Yu, a look inside the Hadron collider at CERN, presidential SF preferences, my review/analysis of Prometheus, the search for Earth-like planets, and a ton more. Look for it in the next couple months.

In the meantime, click on the image above to see/read/print/download the second issue of Galaxis, featuring the SyFy Galactica episode guide, a trip to Saturn, the world's first science fiction story, Lyle Lahey's Bunky comic, building the first real starship, German science fiction history, and – again – a ton more.

Keep reading!

Kalmbach Lets Employees Discover Wisconsin

Kalmbach, the suburban Milwaukee-based publisher that purchased science magazine Discover two years ago, is reportedly closing Discover's New York office and shifting the editorial staff to its Midwest base, according to Folio:.

Just wanted to say, I told you so. Kalmbach was a good company to buy Discover, and now it's making a good decision regarding location. The only points-off moment was when the company's president used the word "synergy" to explain the move.

4,000 and counting: Galaxis Science Fiction and Science

Open publication - Free publishing - More comics

This morning I woke up to a milestone – no, that's not something a doctor needs to remove. It's a marker of achievement. This morning's milestone was 4,000, the number of people who have read or sampled my all-digital magazine Galaxis.

Yes, 4,000 people is a small group compared to the tens of thousands or millions of big magazines. But for a magazine entirely written, designed, produced, and marketed by one person – me, with the exception of the cover painting – I think 4,000 is a good number for now.

"For now" because that number keeps growing. Have you read Galaxis? If you're into science and science fiction, you might want to take a look. (And if you're really into paper editions, you can purchase a print-on-demand copy from MagCloud.) Except for the print-on-demand edition, Galaxis is free to read online or even download to your computer/smartphone/tablet/whatever. Just look for the download link or icon.