Stories about space seem to exert a gravitational pull on letter writers, and those in the August 2002 issue were no exception. "Does Dark Matter Really Exist?" by Mordehai Milgrom, for one, inspired passionate reactions to his theory of Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). "After reading Milgrom's article on MOND, the most likely alternative to much of the dark matter," one writer enthused, "I vow never to let my subscription to SA expire!" Another--perhaps echoing a different Newtonian principle--offered a strong opposing reaction (more on that below). Michael Shermer's look at L, the lifetime of communicating extraterrestrial civilizations, in "Why ET Hasn't Called" [Skeptic], drew a meteoric shower of replies. But "Crop Circle Confession," by Matt Ridley [News Scan], seemed to rouse little more heat than an everyday solar flare.

This article was originally published with the title Letters.

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