'Water' at Science Museum on Friday

The albatross can fly 1,000 miles without a drink of water. Some lizards can slurp salt water, then sneeze the salt out of their nostrils. The desert-dwelling Namib beetle hydrates by condensing fog it collects on its back.

Humans can perform none of these tricks. We express concern about water pollution and rain-forest evaporation, but we still tend to think of our most essential fluid as an infinitely replenishable resource -- especially in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

"Water," an exhibit opening Friday at the Science Museum of Minnesota, is an informative reminder that our water supply does indeed have limits. The show successfully avoids a finger-wagging tone, and offers a look at the wonders of water as well as inspiration for cutting waste. Still, it will make you think twice about leaving the tap on while brushing your teeth, or buying that 24-pack of bottled water on special this week.

"It's meant to be a celebration of water, not a bummer," said Bette Schmit, senior exhibit developer. "We just want visitors to pay attention to water."

Visual highlights include a nearly 6-foot-wide "floating" sphere with changing satellite images projected on it to show ocean currents' effects, a walk-through replica of a water-sculpted slot canyon and, at the entrance, a welcoming "fog curtain."

An international emphasis gives a global perspective on how water is used and abused by cultures worldwide. A sampling of facts to be gleaned on a stroll-through: In sub-Saharan Africa, children's playgrounds are outfitted with merry-go-rounds called PlayPumps that draw water up from deep wells via kid power. In the driest parts of Chile, people stretch a special fabric in the air to convert vapor to water. It has taken a mere 20 years for the Aral Sea to lose 75 percent of its volume, literally sucked dry by the cotton fields planted around it.

"Water" was developed in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, where it premiered. The Science Museum has added regionalizing touches, including a gallery featuring Minnesotans who have made notable strides in water conservation and a wall of arresting photos of water in all its forms, many snapped by amateur photographers and distributed on the photo-sharing website Flickr.

Kid-friendly attractions include interactive quizzes and animals both stuffed (polar bear) and live (frogs). The chance to see if you can pick up and carry the equivalent of a 3-gallon jug of water on your head, as children in some cultures are expected to do, should also prove popular.

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046

Water by the numbers

70 Percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by water.

3 Percentage  that is liquid fresh water.

74 Gallons of water needed to make a cup of coffee (including plant growth).

713 Number of gallons of water needed to make a medium-sized cotton T-shirt.

21 Gallons of bottled water consumed by the average North American in 2005.  Globally, consumption of bottled water nearly doubled between 1997 and 2005. 

2.7 million Tons of plastic used for bottled water worldwide each year.

20 Percent of those bottles that is recycled.

¼ full  Amount of oil poured into an empty plastic water bottle that is equivalent to how much oil it took to create, distribute and dispose of that bottle.

850 billion Number of gallons of water taken daily from the Great Lakes for hydroelectric power,  municipal and manufacturing use in the U.S. and Canada. (the water is used and returned).

Source: Science Museum of Minnesota