Win “The Year in Space” Wall and Desk Calendars

What’s the perfect holiday gift for any space fan? It’s the 2017 version of Steve Cariddi’s amazing Year in Space Calendars, which are now available to order. And thanks to Steve, Universe Today has 2 sets of the wall and desk calendars to give away!

Both the gigantic wall calendar and the spiral-bound desk calendar are full of amazing color images, daily space facts, and historical references. These calendars even show you where you can look in the sky for all the best astronomical sights.

For our giveaway, to be entered into the drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) by Monday, December 19, 2016.

This giveaway is open to anyone around the world!

These calendars normally sell for $19.95, but Universe Today readers can buy the calendar for only $14.95 or less (using the “Internet” discount), with additional discounts that appear during checkout if you buy more than 1 copy at a time. Check out all the details here.

There’s also the 136-Page Desk Calendar at a similar discounts.

You can preview the entire calendar at the Year in Space Calendar website, or see our preview article about the calendars here.

Giveaway: One More Chance to Win the 2016 Year in Space Calendar

Still looking for the perfect calendar for 2016? Don’t start the year without the new Year In Space Wall Calendar! Published in cooperation with The Planetary Society, the large-format Wall Calendar as well as the spiral-bound Desk Calendar, both feature stunning images, fascinating facts, and plenty of room for your own notes and appointments.

Thanks to calendar creator Steve Cariddi, Universe Today has 5 more copies of the Year in Space wall calendar to giveaway.
Continue reading “Giveaway: One More Chance to Win the 2016 Year in Space Calendar”

They’re Back! Win a Copy of the 2016 Year in Space Wall Calendar

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: when the new Year In Space Wall Calendars become available! These wonderful calendars are back for 2016: they are big and are the perfect gift for all the space enthusiasts on your holiday shopping list.

This gigantic wall calendar is full of amazing color images, daily space facts, historical references, and it even shows you where you can look in the sky for all the best astronomical sights.

Thanks to calendar creator Steve Cariddi, Universe Today has 5 copies of the Year in Space wall calendar to giveaway.

To be entered into our giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this article (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Wednesday, December 2, 2015.

If this is the first time you’re registering for a giveaway from Universe Today, you’ll receive a confirmation email immediately where you’ll need to click a link to be entered into the drawing. For those who have registered previously, you’ll receive an email later where you can enter this drawing.

2016_01

This is a gorgeous wall calendar that has over 120 beautiful photos of space, and at 16 inches by 22 inches, it is much larger than other wall calendars. Plus it has great illustrations and information that every space fan will appreciate.

Each month you’ll see:

— An in-depth exploration of human space flight, planetary exploration, or deep sky wonders
— Multiple images and detailed captions
— A mini-biography of famous astronomer, scientist, or astronaut related to the topic
— Background info and fun facts
— A sky summary of where to find naked-eye planets
— Space history dates
— Major holidays (U.S. and Canada)
— Daily Moon phases graphically displayed
— Room for notes and appointments

2016_Wall_Cover_1152

These calendars normally sell for $17.95, but Universe Today readers can buy the calendar for only $13.95 or less (using the “Internet” discount), and get free U.S. shipping and discounted international shipping. There are also volume discounts. Check out all the details here.

There’s also the 136-Page Desk Calendar at a similar discounts.

You can preview the entire calendar at the Year in Space Calendar website.

It’s published in cooperation with The Planetary Society, with an introduction by Bill Nye. Plus there’s a nice blurb about Universe Today! Our thanks to Steve Cariddi for providing this giveaway opportunity for our readers!

Book Review and Giveaway: “How We’ll Live on Mars”

Every great adventure begins with a dream. Explorers look into the unknown and set a course for discovery. Many years ago, the US launched men off planet Earth and hurtled them to the Moon. The next great space milestone is certainly to put a human boot print on Mars. In this dream and adventure of exploration, women and men will not only walk on Mars, but inhabit it.

This aspiration of putting humans on Mars is not a new one. As a spacefaring nation, we could have reached there decades ago. In How We’ll Live on Mars, author Stephen L. Petranek examines how we’ll get to Mars within this century and discusses the opportunity for a potential settlement on the Red Planet.

Find out below how you can win a copy of this new book.

As a species it seems necessary and imminent for humans to exist off this singular planet we currently reside on. How will our journey to Mars happen? What are the pitfalls? And, most importantly, who is leading the charge?

Petranek discusses how private companies are filling a vacuum left by NASA’s mothballing of the Saturn V. NASA’s primary focus on the shuttle and then its retirement has left us currently unable to launch humans from US soil. Elon Musk and his Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) are given proper attention in this book thanks to their accomplishments thus far and their push for further achievements including a goal of Mars. Other private companies and in fact, other nations, are setting their sights on sending rovers to and eventually occupying Mars.

Chapter 6 of this book is titled “Living on Mars.” Petranek aptly notes, “Humans need four things to survive on Earth – food, water, shelter, and clothing. Humans need five things to survive on Mars – food, water, shelter, clothing, and oxygen. The successful procurement of these five essential resources will secure humanity’s future as an interplanetary species.”

This presents a major hurdle. For example, an important goal is finding accessible water – a key ingredient for human survival. Making potable water on a planet far from home is not a simple task, but it is a possible one. The challenges for survival do not end there.

How We’ll Live on Mars, a TED Books original publication, is a quick and worthy read. Stephen L. Petranek’s writing style is fluid; the information is well presented and thoughtful. The first human footprint on Mars is fast approaching reality. As a species we will tune in to watch the broadcast – albeit one with a delay for the signal travel time – of a major milestone in history. This book gives a concise examination of where we’ve been, what we’re likely to see on the road to get there and what will happen once on Mars. I recommend adding this to your reading list.

How We’ll Live on Mars is published by Simon & Schuster. Find out more about the book here.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster, Universe Today has three copies of this book to give away to our readers. The publisher has specified that for this contest, winners need to be from the US.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Wednesday, July 15, 2015. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. If you’ve entered our giveaways before you should also receive an email with a link on how to enter.

Book Review and Giveaway: “Most Wanted Particle” by Jon Butterworth

Most Wanted Particle is an insider’s tale of the hunt for the Higgs boson, the field which imparts mass to, well, nearly everything. Written by Jon Butterworth —- a physicist working with the ATLAS team at the Large Hadron Collider —- the book documents the construction of the Large Hadron Collider, the catastrophe after it was first turned on, and the global excitement as evidence for the Higgs boson grew incontrovertible.

Most Wanted Particle has already received glowing praise from the likes of Brian Cox and even Peter Higgs —- for whom the boson is named -— and I’m sure that several physicists reading this site already have the book on their ‘to read’ list. But what about the rest of us? As a biology PhD whose last physics class was about 15 years ago, I decided to see if the book was accessible enough for your average science geek.

Find out how you can win a copy of this book, below.

First and only warning: the book discusses some very fundamental physics, and if you’re afraid to learn about topics like quarks, gluons, and hadronic jets, then this book will be tough going for you (all three of these are introduced on page 22, for instance). This complexity should be largely expected given the subject matter of the book; the alternative would be like a WW2 book that didn’t mention Normandy. So if learning some jargon scares you, you’d best stick to reading the news headlines from CERN.

With that caveat out of the way, Butterworth is a stellar writer and teacher, and he employs a number of tricks to make Most Wanted Particle extremely readable. First of all, equations are largely absent—they are described rather than displayed. (More kudos are due for making it over halfway through the book before the first Feynman diagram appears). Second is Butterworth’s impressive facility with analogy: often, even if you are struggling with the specifics of a concept, you will be able to grasp the broad brush strokes, and that’s enough to follow along with the tale.

Finally, there is the journalistic style. The book is written as a passionate first-person account, and the main narrative is pleasingly interrupted by diversions. It’s not uncommon to have a dense description of, say, super symmetry, broken up by a blog-like chapter discussing an international trip to a conference. (Other topics include meeting etiquette and ‘taking things offline’; what makes a good acronym; and a particularly memorable drunken night for the author and friends in Hamburg.)

Do you have friends who are scientists? If so, you will feel at home reading this book, and it took me a while to understand why. It’s because the general impression that I get from this book is very similar to taking a scientist friend to the pub, and having them describe their work to you over a beer. Sometimes you’ll get a little lost in the more thorny parts of the science; often you’ll get carried off by a tangent; but overall you’ll just enjoy a rollicking good tale, told by an intelligent storyteller.

This book comes highly recommended!

Most Wanted Particle is published by The Experiment Publishing. Find out more about the book here.

Thanks to The Experiment, Universe Today has one copy of this book to give away to our readers. The publisher has specified that for this contest, winners need to be from the US or Canada.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, April 13, 2015. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. If you’ve entered our giveaways before you should also receive an email with a link on how to enter.

Book Review and Giveaway: Know It All: 132 Head-Scratching Questions About the Science All Around Us

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
Benjamin Franklin

One of the greatest qualities we possess as humans is our ability to ask questions. Our quest for knowledge and answers about the world carries us beyond our everyday borders and attitudes. Curiosity may not have been good for the cat, but it is an essential growth tool for the human mind.

Know It All: 132 Head-Scratching Questions About the Science All Around Us, is a fun and educational collection of thought provoking questions and answers. Although the collection is edited by Mick O’Hare from New Scientist magazine, the contributors are drawn from the scientific community and amateur experts found around the world. Taken directly from the “Last Word” column at New Scientist, this assemblage is a diverse assortment of Q&As ranging in scope from the microscopic to the hypothetical.

Find out how you can win a copy of this book, below.

The most appealing part of the book is its global spirit of science and thirst for knowledge. One gentleman out of South Africa provides many insightful answers to questions originating from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia. Have you ever wondered why your legs may feel wobbly when standing at a cliff top? J. Richfield from South Africa gives an adept explanation.

On pg. 223 a New Scientist reader from North Carolina, USA brings up the Costa Concordia disaster and asks why there was concern about being ‘sucked under’ if the boat sank. The two cited answers are from the well versed contributor in South Africa and from a gentleman in the UK.

Among my wanderings within the book I have gained insight into the value of regularly using mouthwash and what medicines may last longer than their expiration date and why. I am thankful to the correspondent who asked why trick birthday candles can’t be blown out; now I know that the wick has magnesium powder in it and the accompanying science that goes along with it.

Hungry for answers to a wide assortment of questions? Dive into this book and find a treasure of answers.

Thanks to The Experiment Publishing, Universe Today has one copy of this book to give away to our readers. The publisher has specified that for this contest, winners need to be from the US or Canada.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, February 23, 2015. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. If you’ve entered our giveaways before you should also receive an email with a link on how to enter.

We’re only going to use these email addresses for Universe Today giveaways/contests and announcements. We won’t be using them for any other purpose, and we definitely won’t be selling the addresses to anyone else. Once you’re on the giveaway notification list, you’ll be able to unsubscribe any time you like.

Giveaway: Win a Copy of “How to Build a Universe”

The story of our Universe has twists and turns, and from The Big Bang to the discovery of the atom to the eventual death of the universe, author Ben Gilliland uses his skill as an illustrator to explain it all with wit and detail in his new book “How to Build a Universe.”

You can read our full review of the book here.

Universe Today is proud to announce that thanks to Sterling Publishing, we have three copies of this engaging book to give away. The publisher has specified that for this contest, winners need to be from the US.

In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Sunday, February 15, 2015. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing. If you’ve entered our giveaways before you should also receive an email with a link on how to enter.

We’re only going to use these email addresses for Universe Today giveaways/contests and announcements. We won’t be using them for any other purpose, and we definitely won’t be selling the addresses to anyone else. Once you’re on the giveaway notification list, you’ll be able to unsubscribe any time you like.

Still Need a 2015 Calendar? Win “The Year in Space” Wall Calendar

If a 2015 calendar hasn’t made its way in to your holiday space stocking yet, here’s the perfect solution: this year’s edition of Steve Cariddi’s wonderful Year in Space Wall Calendar. It’s not too late to get your own copy, and Universe Today readers can purchase the calendar for only $13.95 or less (using the “Internet” discount), and get free U.S. shipping and discounted international shipping. There are also volume discounts.

But here’s your chance to win a copy! We’ve had two giveaways of this amazing calendar in the past month, but thanks to Steve, Universe Today now has an additional 5 copies to give away. To be entered into the drawing for our giveaway, just put your email address into the box below (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Monday, December 29, 2014.

Wall-calendar-blurb_2015_A

If this is the first time you’re registering for a giveaway from Universe Today, you’ll receive a confirmation email immediately where you’ll need to click a link to be entered into the drawing. For those who have registered previously, you’ll receive an email later where you can enter this drawing.

This calendar is full of amazing color images, daily space facts, historical references, and it even shows you where you can look in the sky for all the best astronomical sights. It also has in-depth info on human space flight, planetary exploration, and deep sky wonders. This calendar is huge — much larger than a traditional wall calendar — and is the perfect way to start the new year.

Find out more about the Year in Space calendar here, and our thanks again to Steve for providing this wonderful calendar for our readers.

Giveaway: Another Chance to Win the 2015 Year In Space Wall Calendar!

Still looking for the perfect holiday gift? The 2015 edition of Steve Cariddi’s wonderful Year in Space Wall Calendar is now available to order, and thanks to Steve, Universe Today has 5 copies to give away!


This is a gorgeous wall calendar that has over 120 beautiful photos of space, and is larger, more lavishly illustrated, and packed with more information than any other space-themed wall calendar. It’s a huge 16 in. x 22 in. when hanging up!

You can read our full review of the 2015 calendar here.

To be entered into our giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this article (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

If this is the first time you’re registering for a giveaway from Universe Today, you’ll receive a confirmation email immediately where you’ll need to click a link to be entered into the drawing. For those who have registered previously, you’ll receive an email later where you can enter this drawing.

Wall-calendar-blurb_2015_A

These calendars normally sell for $17.95, but Universe Today readers can buy the calendar for only $13.95 or less (using the “Internet” discount), and get free U.S. shipping and discounted international shipping. There are also volume discounts. Check out all the details here.

There’s also the 136-Page Desk Calendar at a similar discounts.

You can preview the entire calendar at the Year in Space Calendar website.

2015_Wall_Calendar_images_1333x1000_B

It’s published in cooperation with The Planetary Society, with an introduction by Bill Nye. Our thanks to Steve Cariddi for providing this giveaway opportunity for our readers!

Giveaway: Win a ‘Year In Space 2015’ Wall Calendar!

We say it every year, but Steve Cariddi’s wonderful Year in Space Wall Calendar is the perfect holiday gift! It’s full of amazing color images, daily space facts, historical references, and it even shows you where you can look in the sky for all the best astronomical sights.

The 2015 edition is now available to order, and thanks to Steve, Universe Today has 5 copies to give away!


This is a gorgeous wall calendar that has over 120 beautiful photos of space, and is larger, more lavishly illustrated, and packed with more information than any other space-themed wall calendar. It’s a huge 16 in. x 22 in. when hanging up!

Other features of this calendar:
– Background info and fun facts
– A sky summary of where to find naked-eye planets
– Space history dates
– Major holidays (U.S. and Canada)
– Daily Moon phases
– A mini-biography of famous astronomer, scientist, or astronaut each month.

You can read our full review of the 2015 calendar here.

To be entered into our giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this article (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Tuesday, December 9, 2014.

If this is the first time you’re registering for a giveaway from Universe Today, you’ll receive a confirmation email immediately where you’ll need to click a link to be entered into the drawing. For those who have registered previously, you’ll receive an email later where you can enter this drawing.

Wall-calendar-blurb_2015_A

These calendars normally sell for $17.95, but Universe Today readers can buy the calendar for only $13.95 or less (using the “Internet” discount), and get free U.S. shipping and discounted international shipping. There are also volume discounts. Check out all the details here.

There’s also the 136-Page Desk Calendar at a similar discounts.

You can preview the entire calendar at the Year in Space Calendar website.

2015_Wall_Calendar_images_1333x1000_B

It’s published in cooperation with The Planetary Society, with an introduction by Bill Nye. Our thanks to Steve Cariddi for providing this giveaway opportunity for our readers!