10 Secrets About Water
1. Saltwater contains salt (sodium chloride) and so does freshwater. The average salinity of ocean water is 3.5 percent versus 0.5 percent in a freshwater river.
2. Scientists discovered water on the moon, Mars and likely one of Saturn’s moons. Stars regularly create H2O through solar explosions, and there’s an enormous galactic ocean 100,000 times bigger than our sun, containing 14 trillion times the water in the Earth’s oceans.
3. The 1995 dystopian film, Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner, takes place in the future after the polar ice caps have melted. With a budget of $235 million, the film was the most expensive ever produced at the time. Lauded as one of cinema’s biggest flops, Waterworld didn’t make a profit at the box office. Critic Roger Ebert said, “It could have been more.” The ambitious sci-fi action-adventure only earned 5.2 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes.
4. You’ve probably been advised to drink eight glasses of water each day. But you can drink too much water. Over hydrating will wash sodium and other electrolytes out of your body, impairing your mental function and causing cramping and nausea. In severe cases, you could hallucinate, then lose consciousness, eventually slipping into a coma and dying.
5. Water has served as the inspiration for numerous musicians. Composer Frederic Handel intended “Water Music” to be performed on a boat. Then there’s Claude Debussy’s “La Mer” and Anton Rubinstein’s “Ocean Symphony.” Water themes strike a more modern tune in songs like Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” “Rock Me on the Water” by Jackson Browne and “Water Song,” by the Hot Tuna Special.
6. Water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid, including sulfuric acid.
7. It takes 20 gallons of water to make one pint of beer.
8. Your body is approximately 60 percent water and you exhale a cup of agua every day.
9. The average American consumes 12 gallons of water per day for showering, drinking, eating and flushing. In comparison, people in water-scarce countries like Chad and Mozambique use less than four gallons.
10. Depressed because you’re not catching fish? Drink some water and you might feel better. Researchers have linked depression with dehydration.
