Michael Dello-Iacovo, UNSW Australia
Sixty-five million years ago, disaster struck the Earth. An asteroid or comet around 10km in diameter slammed into what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
While the idea was ridiculed at first, this event is now widely believed to be the reason the dinosaurs became extinct.
This realisation led to a rallying of scientists and engineers around the world to detect and monitor the asteroids in the heavens, and if need be, to be prepared to deflect one from hitting us.
Today, we have a Planetary Defense Coordination Office under NASA whose sole mission is to prepare us for this unlikely but devastating possibility.
It is believed that we have found all of the asteroids the size of that which killed the dinosaurs (at least those near Earth).
Recent impacts
But there are many smaller asteroids that can still do a lot of damage…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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