Reminder: This weekend we spring our clocks forward, losing an hour of sleep, as Daylight Saving Time begins. Use this reminder to change the batteries in your smoke detector, carbon monoxide monitor, and weather radio as you set your analog clocks forward. 

Daylight saving time (DST), is the practice of advancing clocks during the spring and summer (lighter) months. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in the fall. Although it will be darker in the mornings, in return we get to enjoy some much lighter evenings for now on. This isn't governed by the orbit or rotation of the Earth, so it doesn't mean we are losing or gaining more daylight.  It just changes the clock back an hour.

While we do lose an hour of sleep tonight, our sunsets will now be later. The sunset tonight is at 6:44pm, while the sunset tomorrow will move to 7:45pm!

The idea of daylight saving time was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 during his stay in Paris. He published an essay, that proposed to economize the use of candles, by rising earlier to make use of the morning sunlight. However, it wasn't put into effect until WWI. The Standard Time Act was established in 1918, but was repealed a year later. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed an act into law whereby Daylight Saving Time begins on the last Sunday of April and ends on the last Sunday of October each year. However, any State can opt out of Daylight Saving Time by passing a State law. In 2005, President Bush signed into law a new energy policy bill that would extend Daylight Saving Time by 4 weeks beginning in 2007.

Technically, there is no way to save daylight, but by taking advantage of the daylight that is available each day, you can save energy by not having to use as much artificial light and thus save money. This is the main rationale for the change in time. By every individual using one hour less of artificial light during DST, for a period of more than 200 days, it equates to an enormous amount of savings as a nation. However, the idea of Daylight Saving is not without debate. Opponents argue that actual energy savings are inconclusive, that DST can disrupt morning activities, and that the act of changing clocks twice a year is economically, socially and physically disruptive and therefore cancels out any benefit. Groups that have tended to oppose DST are farmers, transportation companies, and the indoor (or darkness reliant) entertainment business.