Discovering an Earth-bound object is not the same as avoiding it. For the latter, early detection is crucial. The author considers that we can have an effective space defence system.

Concerning the alleged Mayan apocalypse prophecy, a friend of mine asked: «Well, after this new fiasco, what’s the next scheduled end of the world?» Lists abound on the Internet compiling different predictions made about the end of the world (even Wikipedia has one: apocalyptic events)