When It Strikes,Are We Ready?Lessons Identified at the 7th Planetary Defense Conference in Preparing for a Near-Earth Object Impact Scenario

Near-Earth object(NEO)impact is one of the examples of high impact and low probability(HILP)event,same as the Covid-19 pandemic the world faces since the beginning of 2020.The 7 th Planetary Defense Conference held by the International Academy of Astronautics(IAA)in April 2021 included an exercise on a hypothetical NEO impact event,allowing the planetary defense community to discuss potential responses.Over the span of the 4-day conference this exercise connected disaster response and management professionals to participate in a series of panels,providing feedback and perspective on the unfolding crisis scenario.The hypothetical but realistic asteroid threat scenario illustrated how such a short-warning threat might evolve.The scenario utilized during the conference indicates a need to prepare now for what might come in the future,because even with advance notice,preparation time might be minimal.This scenario chose Europe for the impact,which may likely cope with such a disaster,through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism(UCPM)and other solidarity and support mechanisms within the European Union(EU),as well as with potential support from international partners.This short article raises concern about other areas in the world on how they may access NEO impact information and cope with such disasters.It also provides an idea on vast scale of such disaster vis-a-vis the current capacity of response systems to cope with a larger event in Europe or elsewhere.This scenario showed that planetary defense is a global endeavor.Constant engagement of the planetary defense and disaster response communities is essential in order to keep the world safe from potential disasters caused by NEO impacts.

A solution scan of societal options to reduce transmission and spread of respiratory viruses:SARS-CoV-2 as a case study

Societal biosecurity–measures built into everyday society to minimize risks from pests and diseases–is an important aspect of managing epidemics and pandemics.We aimed to identify societal options for reducing the transmission and spread of respiratory viruses.We used SARS-CoV-2(severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2)as a case study to meet the immediate need to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually transition to more normal societal conditions,and to catalog options for managing similar pandemics in the future.We used a‘solution scanning’approach.We read the literature;consulted psychology,public health,medical,and solution scanning experts;crowd-sourced options using social media;and collated comments on a preprint.Here,we present a list of 519 possible measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and spread.We provide a long list of options for policymakers and businesses to consider when designing biosecurity plans to combat SARS-CoV-2 and similar pathogens in the future.We also developed an online application to help with this process.We encourage testing of actions,documentation of outcomes,revisions to the current list,and the addition of further options.