The Skeptics Guide #872 - Mar 26 2022
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What are the pros and cons of making daylight saving time permanent and which should we choose?
You're listening to the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.
Hello and welcome to the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. Today is Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022, and this is your host, Stephen Novella. Joining me this week are Bob Novella.
Wait, what do I say? Hey, everybody.
Crap. What's up? Karras. Jay Novella. Hey, guys. And Evan Bernstein.
I can't top Bob, but hello, everyone.
That was your second worst intro ever. Oh, my God. That is saying something. Ouch. That's what I was shooting for. Second worst. Commission accomplished. Last week, we were talking about the fact that just out of nowhere, the Senate unanimously passed this bill with a provision to make daylight savings time permanent, perennial, basically year-round. And we all thought that was a great idea. This was our most email response topic of the week. Definitely. Offhand discussion that we were having. Everybody had basically the same feedback. Like we were saying how, you know, this was a great idea, but actually it's, it's controversial or it could be a bad idea. And there are concerns about going to perennial daylight savings time.
But here's the thing. We were only, there's, there's two components to this, right? One is making one time permanent, right?
And then the other is... Not which time is it.
Yeah, is it DST versus, you know, daylight savings time versus standard time? And we were only really talking about the first bit. It's like, yes, it's... And that is really not controversial. Everyone pretty much agrees, scientists, et cetera. No matter what angle you look at it, the feedback is basically... Everyone agrees we should have one perennial time. That... And that most of the negative impacts come from the switching twice a year. Like there's definitely an increase in car accidents after the spring forward and more heart attacks and things like that. So let's talk about the second part, right? Since we didn't talk about that last week, daylight savings time versus standard time. What do you guys think?
So if we stay on daylight saving, that means then that the sun is up later. Well, okay. The day is shorter regardless in the winter, right? The sun is out for less time in the winter regardless. But if we stay on daylight saving, we're pushing the sun back slightly later. So there's a chance that people are going to work and school in the dark. And that seems to be the biggest complaint, right?
Mm-hmm.
And so if we do it the opposite way, our day starts with more sun, but it gets dark earlier in the day. I guess the question is, which is more depressing and also which is honestly like from a public health perspective, which is healthier? I think early morning sun is probably healthier.
Well, the changing of time, I've read many, many, many times because I think this article comes out every year that when the time changes, like people die because of it.
Well, yeah, but we're saying all things being equal, there is no time shift. Which one do we stick with?
Right. Which one do we lock in? The one where you get less sun in the morning or more sun in the evening? No.
Those are the same thing.
Yes, the same thing.
More sun in the morning, more sun in the evening. Solve the problem. No, but I think we do the one that requires no change.
No, but either of them require a change. Either we default to daylight saving or we default to standard time.
You have to choose one.
We're going to change once.
Standard time all the way, 100%. Guaranteed. No risk. Guaranteed.
So if we stick with standard time, you're saying what a lot of the emailers said and what I just said about it's lighter earlier in the day. Yeah. The sun's going to set at like 4 o'clock in some parts of the country.
I like more light in the evening because if more – I imagine the majority of people work sort of the classic 9 to 5 kind of workday. That extra hour in the evening of light allows you to do more activities in the evening, whereas you're not going to be doing those activities anyways in the morning. You're kind of squandering that morning light now.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the pros and cons of making daylight saving time permanent and which should we choose?
0:00–5:59
2
What does the science say about permanent daylight saving vs. standard time and social clock adjustments?
5:59–1:03:16
3
What are the risks and engineering challenges of orbiting solar power systems?
1:03:16–1:04:52
4
How did unprecedented Antarctic temperature spikes occur and could climate change be involved?
1:04:52–1:08:59
5
What was the noisy sound and why was a lithium-ion battery puncture so dramatic?
1:08:59–1:16:12
6
Which bread-related science facts are real: was sliced bread banned, can gas-leavening replace yeast, and does bread reduce obesity?
1:16:12–1:54:38