Edward Cussler and Brian Gettelfinger made Ig Nobel history by wearing swimming suits when they accepted the Chemistry prize. They had good reason, because their prize-winning study settled the longstanding scientific question: will humans swim faster or slower in syrup? Just imagine. Ona beautiful day, two scientists pour 310 kg of guar gum (a food thickener, known in Europe as E412) into a 650 m3 swimming pool, stir well for 36 hours, and then ask 10 swimmers to swim two lengths in the syrup and (after a shower and three minutes of rest) two lengths in an adjacent pool filled with water. They record each swimmer's lap time and number of strokes, and publish their results in the November 2004 issue of the prestigious American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal. Their findings? They discovered that there was no difference in speed.