ST. LOUIS -- Cold. Windy. Dry. Desolate.

Hardly the kind of conditions for a summer vacation.

But to penguins and other lifeforms which thrive in "Antarctica" -- the new film at the St. Louis Science Center (5050 Oakland Avenue) -- it's home.

"Antarctica" takes viewers on an extraordinary journey through its icy surfaces, fresh waters and fiercely hostile land in the Omnimax Theater, a high-fidelity 70 millimeter motion picture system that uses state-of-the-art technology to create images of unsurpassed clarity and impact.

The images are projected on a four-story-high domed screen which encompasses a viewer's entire field of vision, creating the effect of placing one in the middle of the action.

The specially designed Omnimax camera uses the largest film frame in motion picture history, 10 times the size of a standard 35 millimeter frame.

The film, which will run until Sept. 15, allows viewers to explore areas never before seen by humans, from a crystalline cave submerged within the Chaos Glacier to an exhilarating bird's-eye view of mountains, crevasses and valleys.

Most viewers will recognize the South Pole by its ceremonious barber-striped pole, but the panoramic images of the Pole's horizon are unprecedented.

Antarctica is a land of extremes, with six months of continuous daylight followed by six months of complete darkness. Ice covers 98 percent of its surface, yet its edges teem with life.

Penguins, seals and whales are among the few life forms able to exist year-round, with average temperatures reaching 76 degrees below zero.

Because of such brutal conditions, plants and animals must feed off each other to survive. As a result, many species have become extinct.

More than 40 countries have signed a treaty to jointly protect and preserve the continent, since it has no formal government.

The Antarctic Treaty encourages scientific exploration, and many of its members have research stations used to study life, climate and the Earth's ozone layer.

"Antarctica" is a Heliograph Production directed by John Weiley and produced by Weiley and David Flatman.

Admission to the Omnimax Theater is $5.50 for adults and $4.50 for children under 12 and senior adults. Discounts are available to groups of 20 or more.

Show times are hourly, Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 7, and 8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 6-8 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.