Is your speed in water unmatched?
Does your breaststroke leave
your opponents in last place?
Maybe you're ready for
a different challenge.
So, what if you jumped
into a pool full of honey?
In 2005,
Professor Edward Cussler received
the Ig Nobel Prize for comparing
swimming speeds in syrup versus water.
He found that although the syrup
was denser than water,
the swimmers' increased motion
made the liquid more viscous,
or flow more easily.
So as the swimmers kept moving,
the syrup became just as easy
to swim through as water.
But if you stop moving,
Made from nectar,
honey is the result of tireless work
and millions of flowers.
Each bee collects
nectar from flowers and stores it
inside its extra stomach,
known as its crop.
After it mixes with enzymes
inside the bee,
the new chemical is ready
for long-term storage.
So, when it returns to the hive,
the bee regurgitates the fluid
into another bee's mouth,
and that bee passes it to another bee,
creating a daisy chain
of partially digested nectar.
This process continues
until one bee deposits the fluid
into a honeycomb.
After the water has evaporated,
bees seal the comb with a secretion
from their abdomens,
which hardens into beeswax.
So if you want to fill an Olympic-sized pool,
how much honey would you need?
Well, the pool would hold
about 3,000,419 L (660,000 gal)
of water, so you'd need
about 4.35 million kg (9.9 million lb)
of honey.
And considering that one bee colony
produces 27-45 kg (60-100 lb) of honey
per year,
this pool would contain many
colonies' lifetimes of work.
Honey is a non-Newtonian fluid,
a term named after the famous
physicist Sir Isaac Newton.
You know, the apple and gravity guy.
He found that normal fluids,
like water,
have a constant flow
with no resistance, or viscosity.
We call those Newtonian fluids.
But we're dealing with honey.
As a non-Newtonian fluid,
it's viscosity changes when
you apply force to it,
such as the impact
of you swimming in it.
And the thicker the liquid,
the higher the viscosity.
Centipoise measures the amount
of force needed to move a layer of liquid
in relation to another liquid.
On a mild, 21 ºC (70 ºF) day,
honey has a viscosity of 10,000 cps.
But water is only 1 cps.
Oh, and honey is 1.5 times denser
than water, too.
But honey is also a thixotropic fluid,
which means if it stays still,
it becomes a gel-like substance.
So that could slow you down.
If you want an easier swim
through honey,
you'll need a warm day.
While your cannonball
wouldn't have the same splash as in water,
the sudden movements
of your arms and legs would begin
to change the honey's composition.
And since the buoyant force
increases with density,
you may float back to the top
after you jump in.
So that makes it less likely
that you'll drown.
Professor Cussler's experiment
showed that form drag
is the key to human swimming.
Your form, or shape,
affects the drag on your body
when you're moving through a fluid,
like swimming through honey.
Streamlined shapes have less drag
when they move through fluids.
And since we're all shaped differently,
the drag you create in the honey
is unique to you.
No judgement here.
You might want to break out your cap
and Speedo bathing suit to lessen
the resistance while you swim.
And you may even have
a snack between laps.
You'll get more than a mouthful
of honey while you're swimming.
But take it easy.
If you eat too much,
you could get sick.
While honey has been used to treat
everything from coughs
to wounds,
consuming too much
could cause health problems.
Considering the recommended allowance
of honey is 10% of your daily calories,
all this added sugar pouring
into your body could make you queasy.
And even more dangerous?
Every gulp comes with the threat
of botulism, a kind of food poisoning.
These spores grow in
improperly preserved food,
and create a toxin that
attacks the body’s nerves.
They can weaken the muscles
you use for breathing and even kill you.
But there are some benefits.
One dip might leave you sticky,
but if you make this swim
part of your morning routine,
your skin could become softer
and well-moisturized.
Your abrasions would heal faster,
and you would have
fewer fungal infections.
This tasty, gel-like fluid
has just as many restorative properties
as it does drawbacks.
Used in moderation,
it could help your body
inside and out.
But if you swim in honey too often,
it might cancel the healthy benefits.
Of course, without honeybees,
we wouldn't have the option
of floating in this sticky stuff.
It makes you wonder,
what if
insects disappeared from the planet?
Well, that's a story for another What If.