If the predictions about the Mayan apocalypse on Dec. 21 are true, they have not materialized in parts of the world where it's already the 21st of the month.
New Zealand, Australia and many Pacific islands are in the wee hours of Friday morning, and all is well so far.
Soon Tokyo and the megacities of the Asian mainland will roll over into the Dec. 21, quickly followed by the India, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
But even if no destruction has yet come to pass, it is possible the doomsayers could still be right?
All of the panic is based around the Mayan calendar, so perhaps "Doomsday" doesn't actually begin until Dec. 21 hits the old Mayan homelands in Central America.
That doesn't happen until 1:00 a.m. EST, as southern Mexico and Guatemala, home of the ancient Mayans, are an hour behind the east coast of the United States.
Then again, the ancient Mayans wouldn't have had a reliable way to tell when midnight struck; they would have based their days on the rising of the sun. That won't happen until 7:23 a.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 21, nearly a full day off.
But there's still plenty of disagreement on when exactly the apocalypse is supposed to occur. When exactly does the Mayan calendar end?
Some speculate that "Doomsday" will happen at the precise moment of the winter solstice. That occurs at 6:11 a.m. EST on Dec. 21.
So while Australians may be celebrating their brush with destruction, it isn't quite over yet.
It will be over tomorrow, when we can all go back to worrying about scary things that might actually kill us all, like nuclear proliferation and climate change.
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