All Posts
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Meet the Beetles
Published06/09/2020
Did you know we have a colony of dermestid beetles in the collections to prepare skeletons from carcasses? -
City Stardust: Micrometeorites in Our Own Backyards
Published
Micrometeorites are some of the oldest matter that exists. Until recently, scientists searched for them only in remote places, such as the Antarctic, where pristine conditions ensured that these mineral specks really came from space. Experts assumed that it would be impossible to find micrometeorites in inhabited areas, where natural… -
Lichen Minded
Published , By Eve Daniels
Next time you’re out in nature, take a moment to look for the lichens. You’ll see their unique colors and patterns on the rocks, trees, and stone structures everywhere from Northern Minnesota to the world’s deserts, tropics, and tundras. A symbiotic organism that’s part fungi, part algae or cyanobacteria, lichens… -
Diorama Spotlight: Big Woods
Published05/28/2020 , By Adam Hartman, gallery programs assistant
During early European settlement of this continent, French traders referred to the more than 2,000 square miles of hardwood forest in what is now south-central Minnesota as the “Big Woods.” Not only was the forest vast, but the trees that grew there were huge (or “big”)! Today, all that remains… -
Minnesota Skies: June 2020
Published05/27/2020 , By Deane Morrison, Thaddeus LaCoursiere & Sarah Komperud
Venus has just left the evening sky, and now Jupiter and Saturn are moving in. By mid-month, both will be up in the southeast before midnight. Jupiter, by far the brighter planet, shines west of Saturn and leads the ringed planet across the night sky. -
2020 Graduate Awards & Fellowships
Published05/19/2020
Congratulations to 2020 recipients of these natural history awards and fellowships! -
International Day for Biological Diversity
Published05/18/2020 , By Adam Hartman & Heather Cummins
As we kick off the first day of the week leading up to the International Day for Biological Diversity on Friday, let’s take a look at what it is and why it matters. The short version is that it’s a day the United Nations declared for increasing understanding and awareness… -
#museumathome with Animal Crossing
Published05/17/2020
We’re talking about Animal Crossing: New Horizons across our social media platforms today. Want to know more about the game and why museum folks—including our staff members—play? Jenny Stampe, associate director of public education and science learning, has some questions for her colleagues who play the game. -
Diorama Spotlight: Beavers at Lake Itasca
Published05/14/2020 , By Amber Kastner, public science events manager
Completed in 1919, the Beavers at Lake Itasca diorama is the oldest in the current Bell Museum. After beginning its history in the Zoology building at the University of Minnesota, it was moved in 1940 to the former Bell Museum on Church Street before being transferred once more to its… -
Adventures in Plant Evolution
Published05/13/2020 , By Eve Daniels
Ya Yang hiked to a glacier in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Lightning cracked in the distance. Yang and her collaborators found the plant they were looking for, pulled it from the icy water, roots and all.