Every year some countries move their clocks forward in the spring only to move them back in the autumn. To the vast majority of the world who doesn't participate in this odd clock fiddling, it seems a baffling thing to do. So what's the reason behind it?
有些國家每年在春天時要將時鐘調快，就是為了在秋天時調回來。對世界上絕大多數沒有參與這奇怪的竄改時間活動的國家來說，這似乎是一件令人困惑的事。所以它背後的原因是什麼？
The original idea, proposed by George Hudson, was to give people more sunlight in the summer. Of course, it's important to note that changing a clock doesn't actually make more sunlight. That's not how physics works.
原先的概念，是由George Hudson提出的，為的是要讓人們在夏天時享受更多日光。當然，有一點很重要的是，調了時鐘實際上不會製造更多陽光。這不是物理學運作的方式。
But, by moving the clocks forward an hour, compared to all other human activity, the sun will seem to both rise and set later. The time when the clocks are moved forward is called Daylight Saving Time, and the rest of the year is called Standard Time.
但是，把時鐘調快一個鐘頭，相對於人類的其他活動，太陽似乎能晚點升起也晚點下山。時鐘調快的那一個小時叫做「日光節約時間」，一年中剩下的時間則叫做「標準時間」。
This switch effectively gives people more time to enjoy the sunshine and nice summer weather after work. Hudson, in particular, wanted more sunlight so he could spend more time adding to his insect collection.
這樣的轉換有效地讓人們下班後能享受更多陽光和宜人的夏日氣候。Hudson特別想要更多陽光，這樣他就能有更多時間增加他的昆蟲標本收藏。
When winter is coming, the clocks move back, presumably because people don't want to go outside anymore. But, winter doesn't have this effect on everyone. If you live in a tropical place like Hawaii, you really don't have to worry about seasons, because they pretty much don't happen.
當冬天來臨，時鐘就調回來，推測是因為人們再也不想到外頭去了。但是，冬天不是在每個人身上都有這種效果。如果你住在像是夏威夷的熱帶地區，你實在不必擔心季節變換，因為季節變換大多不會發生。
Every day, all year, it's sunny and beautiful, so Christmas is just as good of a day to hit the beach as any other. And so, Hawaii is one of two states in the Union that ignore Daylight Saving Time.
整年的每一天，都是晴朗的美好天氣，所以聖誕節就像其它日子一樣都很適合到海邊。所以，夏威夷是美國聯邦內無視日光節約時間的兩個州之一。
But, the further you travel from the equator in either direction, the more the seasons assert themselves, and you get colder and darker winters, making summer time much more valuable to the locals. So it's no surprise that the further a country is from the equator, the more likely it uses Daylight Saving Time.
但，不論哪個方向，你離赤道越遠，四季就越加明顯，你的冬天會更寒冷、更陰暗，讓夏季光陰對當地人來說更加珍貴。所以不意外的，距離赤道越遠的國家，越有可能會使用日光節約時間。
Hudson proposed his idea in Wellington in 1895, but it wasn't well received, and it took until 1916 for Germany to be the first country to put it into practice. Though, the uber-industrious Germans were less concerned with catching butterflies on a fine summer evening than they were with saving coal to feed the war machine.
1895年時Hudson在威靈頓提出了他的想法，但並不受好評，直到1916年德國才成為第一個實行的國家。雖然超級勤奮的德國人關心的不是在舒適的夏日午後來抓抓蝴蝶，而是關心要節省煤炭供給戰爭機器使用。
The Germans thought Daylight Saving Time would conserve energy. The reasoning goes that it encourages people to stay out later in the summer and thus use less artificial lighting.
德國人認為日光節約時間可以節省能源。理由是它能鼓勵人們在夏天時待在戶外久一點，因此能少用人工照明。
This sounds logical, and it may have worked in the more regimented society of a hundred years ago, but does it still work in the modern world? That turns out to be a surprisingly difficult question to answer.
這聽起來很合邏輯，在一百年前嚴格管制的社會也許行得通，但它在現代世界也可行嗎？結果很意外地是個很難回答的問題。
For example, take mankind's greatest invention: Air Conditioning. The magic box of cool that makes otherwise uninhabitable sections of the world quite tolerable places to live. But, pumping heat out of your house isn't cheap, and turning on one air conditioner is the same as running dozens of Tungsten light bulbs.
拿人類最偉大的發明：冷氣作為例子。這個神奇的涼爽盒子讓世界上一些若無冷氣不宜居住的區域變成蠻適合居住的所在。但是，將熱氣從家裡抽出並不便宜，而且打開一台冷氣機等同於使用數打鎢絲燈泡。
If people get more sunshine, but don't use it to go outside, then Daylight Saving Time might actually cost electricity, not save it. This is particularly true in a place like Phoenix, where the Average Summer High is a hundred and seven degrees, and the record is a hundred and twenty-two.
如果人們有更多陽光，卻不出門使用，日光節約時間實際上可能會耗費電力，而不是節省。這在像是鳳凰城的地方特別正確，那裡平均夏日高溫是華氏一百零七度(約攝氏四十一度)，最高記錄是一百二十二度(約攝氏五十度)。
If you suggest to an Arizonian to change their clocks in the summer to get more sunshine, they'll laugh in your face. Sun and higher electricity bills are not what they want, which is why Arizona is the second state that never changes their clocks.
如果你建議一名亞利桑那州居民在夏天調時鐘來得到更多陽光，他們會當著你的面大笑。太陽和更貴的電費帳單不是他們想要的，這也是為什麼亞利桑那州是第二個從未調整時鐘的州。
Another problem with trying to study Daylight Saving Time is rapid changes in technology and electrical use. As technology gets better and better and better, more electricity is dedicated to things that aren't light bulbs.
另一個試著研究日光節約時間的問題是科技和用電的急遽變化。科技進步、進步、再進步，越來越多的電力就用在不是燈泡的東西上。
And the lure of a hot, sweaty, mosquito-filled day outside is less appealing than technological entertainments and climate-controlled comfort inside.
而室外炎熱、汗流浹背、充滿蚊子的白晝魅力，可不比科技娛樂以及空調舒適的室內來的有吸引力。
Also the horrifically energy inefficient Tungsten light bulbs that have remained unchanged for a century are giving way to CFLs and LEDs, greatly reducing the amount of energy required to light a room.
還有已經留存一世紀沒有變化、能源效能奇低的鎢絲燈泡，正讓路給CFL和LED節能燈，大大地減少需要照亮一間房的能源量。
So, even assuming that Daylight Saving Time is effective, it's probably less effective with every passing year.
所以，即便假設日光節約時間是有效的，可能每過一年效果就會差一點。
The bottom line is while some studies say DST costs more electricity, and others say it saves electricity, the one thing they agree on is the effect size: not twenty percent or ten percent but one percent or less, which, in the United States, works out to be about four dollars per household.
最後的結果是，雖然有些研究表示日光節約時間耗費更多電力，有些則說節省電力，他們都同意的一件事是效果大小：不是百分之二十也不是百分之十，而是百分之一甚至更少，在美國，結果每戶約是四美元。
Four dollars saved or spent on electricity over an entire year is not really a huge deal either way. So the question now becomes: is the hassle of switching the clocks twice a year worth it?
一整年省下或是多付四美元的電費不管怎樣實在都不是一件大事。所以現在問題變成：一年調兩次時鐘這麻煩值得嗎？
The most obvious trouble comes from sleep deprivation, an already too common reflection in the western world that DST makes measurably worse.
最明顯的麻煩來自於睡眠剝奪，一個西方世界已經非常普遍的反思，日光節約時間讓它更加糟糕。
With time-tracking software we can actually see that people are less productive the week after the clock changes. This comes with huge associated costs.
透過時間追蹤軟體，我們可以實際看到人們在調完時鐘後的那個禮拜是比較沒生產力的。這帶來了巨大的相關成本。
To make things worse, most countries take away that hour of sleep on a Monday morning. Sleep deprivation can lead to heart attacks and suicides, and the Daylight Saving Time Monday has a higher than normal spike in both.
讓情況更糟的是，大部分國家帶走了星期一早上一小時的睡眠時間。睡眠剝奪可能會導致心臟病和自殺，而在日光節約時間內的週一，兩者發生的機會都比平常更高。
Other troubles come from scheduling meetings across time zones. Let's say that you're trying to plan a three-way conference between New York, London and Sydney, not an easy thing to do under the best of circumstances, but made extra difficult when they don't agree on when Daylight Saving Time should start and end.
其他麻煩則來自於跨時區會議的時間安排。比方說你試著要在紐約、倫敦和雪梨間安排一場三方會議，在最佳的情況之下也不是件容易做的事，但當他們在日光節約時間應該何時開始和結束沒有取得一致，就變得格外困難了。
In the spring, Sydney is eleven hours ahead of London, and New York is five hours behind. But then New York is the first to enter Daylight Saving Time and moves its clock forward an hour. Two weeks later London does the same. In one more week, Sydney, being on the opposite side of the world, leaves Daylight Saving Time and moves its clock back an hour.
在春天，雪梨比倫敦快十一個小時，而紐約慢五個小時。但接著紐約是第一個進入日光節約時間，並把時鐘調快一小時的。兩週後倫敦做了相同的事。再過一週，雪梨，在世界的另外一端，離開日光節約時間，並將時鐘調慢一小時。
So in the space of three weeks, New York is five hours behind London, then four hours and then five hours again. And Sydney is either eleven, ten or nine hours from London, and sixteen, fifteen or fourteen hours from New York. And this whole crazy thing happens again in reverse six months later.
所以在這三週的時間，紐約比倫敦晚了五小時，然後晚四小時，又再次晚五小時。而雪梨要不就是比倫敦早了十一、十、或九個小時，要不就是早紐約十六、十五或十四小時。這整件瘋狂的事在六個月之後又會反轉過來再次發生。
Back in the dark ages, this might not have mattered so much, but in the modern, interconnected world, planning international meetings happens thousands and thousands of times daily. Shifting and inconsistent time zones isn't doing Netizens any favors.
如果回到黑暗時期，這可能不是那麼重要，但在現代相互連結的世界，國際會議的安排每天都會發生幾千次。持續變換、不一致的時區不會幫上網友們任何忙。
And, countries aren't even consistent about Daylight Saving Time within their own borders.
而且，許多國家在自己境內甚至也沒有就日光節約時間取得一致。
Brazil has Daylight Saving Time, but only if you live in the south. Canada has it too, but not Saskatchewan. Most of Oz does DST, but not Western Australia, The Northern Territory or Queensland.
巴西使用日光節約時間，但只有你住在南部才會用到。加拿大也有，但Saskatchewan省沒有。大部分的澳洲人使用日光節約時間，但西澳、北領地或昆士蘭則沒有。
And, of course, the United States does have Daylight Saving Time, unless you live in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands or...as mentioned before, Hawaii and Arizona. But Arizona isn't even consistent within itself.
還有，當然，美國的確有使用日光節約時間，除非你住在波多黎各、維京群島、美屬薩摩亞、關島、北馬利安納群島，或是...先前提過的，夏威夷和亞利桑那州。但亞利桑那州自己境內也不一致。
While Arizona ignores Daylight Saving Time, the Navaho Nation inside of Arizona follows it. Inside of the Navaho Nation is the Hopi Reservation, which like Arizona, ignores daylight saving time.
雖然亞利桑那州無視日光節約時間，但境內的Navaho Nation卻遵循著它。而Navaho Nation內的Hopi原住民保留區，就像亞利桑那州一樣無視日光節約時間。
Going deeper, inside of the Hopi Reservation is another part of the Navaho Nation, which does follow Daylight Saving Time. And finally, there is also part of the Hopi Reservation elsewhere in the Navaho Nation which doesn't. So driving across this hundred-mile stretch would technically necessitate seven clock changes, which is insane.
更深入點，在Hopi 保留區裡有Navaho Nation的另一部分，遵循日光節約時間。最後，在Navaho Nation內另外一部分的Hopi保留區則沒有遵循它。所以開車開過這綿延百里的土地，技術上會需要七次時間變換，這很瘋狂。
While this is an unusual local oddity, here is a map showing the different daylight saving and time zone rules in all their complicated glory. It's a huge mess, and constantly needs updating as countries change their laws. Which is why it shouldn't be surprising that even our digital gadgets can't keep the time straight occasionally.
儘管這是個不正常的當地怪事，這是一張地圖，從他們繁複的豐功偉業之中，展示出不同的日光節約和時區規範。這真是亂七八糟，當國家修改法律時也需要持續更新。這就是為什麼不意外的，甚至連我們的數位小工具有時也跟不上時間變換。
So to review: Daylight Saving Time gives more sunlight in the summer after work, which depending on where you live, might be in advantage or not. And it may or may not save electricity.
所以來複習一下：日光節約時間在夏天下班後給你更多陽光，端看你住在哪裡，可能是好處也可能不是。可能也可能不會節省能源。
But one thing is for sure: it's guaranteed to make something that should be simple, keeping track of time, quite complicated, which is why when it comes time to change the clocks, there's always a debate about whether or not we should.
但有件事是確定的：它必定將原本應該要簡單、能掌握時間的事情變得相當複雜，這就是為什麼當要調整時鐘的時候，總是有我們該不該這麼做的爭論。
