'TECHNO TEXTILES'

Ongoing: Scientists don't just hurl multibillion-dollar equipment at remote planets and hope that it can cope with rough terrain. They surround it with high-tech padding. Or in the case of the Mars Exploration Rover, they wrap it in fat airbags made of silicone-coated woven Vectran. Beyond the bed-and-bath land of 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton is a world of highly engineered textiles that do amazing things, many of them on view in the Goldstein Museum of Design's "Techno Textiles" show. The wonder fabrics include turf-reinforcement mats to reduce soil erosion on steep hillsides, ground-up sports shoes used to resurface playgrounds, geo-textiles to seal green roofs and stretchy fabrics to wrap buildings. There are sports and safety garments for wicking sweat, stopping bullets and handling hazardous materials. This sexy toreador outfit has plastic tubing woven into the mesh to provide thermal cooling and warming. Fascinating. (Ends July 17. Free. Goldstein Museum of Design, University of Minnesota, 364 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Av., St. Paul. 612-624-7434 or goldstein.design.umn.edu.)

MARY ABBE