The student body consists mainly of cadets who served apprenticeships as elevator jockeys.

Asteroids: Tiny worlds floating around in space, put there no doubt to annoy unwary space ships.

Extrapolation: The process by which a science-fiction writer takes an established scientific fact and builds thereon a story that couldn't happen in a million years, but maybe 2,000,000.

Science fiction: A genre of escape literature which takes the reader to far-away planets—and usually neglects to bring him back.

S.F.: An abbreviation for science fiction.

Bem: A word derived by using the first letters of the three words: Bug Eyed Monster. Bems are ghastly looking creatures in general. In science-fiction yarns written by Terrans, bems are natives of Mars. In science-fiction yarns written by Martians, bems are natives of Terra.

The pile: The source from which power is derived to carry men to the stars. Optional on the more expensive space ships, at extra cost.

Atom blaster: A gun carried by spacemen which will melt people down to a cinder. A .45 would do just as well, but then there's the Sullivan Act.

Orbit: The path of any heavenly body. The bodies are held in these orbits by natural laws the Republicans are thinking of repealing.

Nova: The explosive stage into which planets may pass. According to the finest scientific thinking, a planet will either nova, or it won't.

Galaxy: A term used to confuse people who have always called it The Milky Way.

Sun spots: Vast electrical storms on the sun which interfere with radio reception, said interference being advantageous during political campaigns.

Atomic cannons: Things that go zap.

Audio screen: Television without Milton Berle or wrestling.

Disintegrating ray: Something you can't see that turns something you can see into something you can't see.

Geiger counter: Something used to count Geigers. Interstellar space: Too much nothing at all, filled with rockets, flying saucers, advanced civilizations, and discarded copies of Amazing Stories.

Mars: A candy bar.

Pluto: A kind of water.

Ray guns: Small things that go zap.

Time machine: A machine that carries you back to yesterday and into next year. Also, an alarm clock.

Time warp: The hole in time the time machine goes through to reach another time. A hole in nothing.

Terra: Another name for Earth. It comes from terra firma or something like that.

Hyperdrive: The motor that is used to drive a space ship faster than the speed of light. Invented by science-fiction writers but not yet patented.

Ether: The upper reaches of space and whatever fills them. Also, an anaesthetic.

Luna: Another name for the Moon. Formerly a park in Coney Island.