The Science Museum of Minnesota invites guests to explore the armor of the animal kingdom with the new exhibit, “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity.” Open through June 1, 2026, the exhibit offers a deep dive into the functions and different ways skin has evolved, including the history of skin color and racism in America. (Science Museum of Minnesota)

Guests can now discover the wonders of their own personal armor at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s latest exhibit, “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity.” It features multiple specimens and interactive experiences for visitors, including an in-depth investigation of the history of skin color and the social and political meanings ascribed to it.

Located on the fourth floor of the downtown St. Paul museum, “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity” runs through June 1 and presents the different ways skin has evolved for humans and animals over time.

“This is actually one of my favorite science exhibits that we’ve had here,” said Dr. Catherine Early, curator and chair of the biology department at the museum. “I think it’s fantastic to dive into the diversity of the Animal Kingdom, but also contextualizing ourselves as humans.”

Originally on display at the California Academy of Sciences, “Skin” was open from June 2019 through January 2020.

“Uniquely personal yet universal, skin forms a living interface between organisms and their environment — and is our public face to the world,” the academy wrote on its website.

Related Articles

Palace Theatre sues Wrecktangle Pizza for $1.6M over St. Paul restaurant

Flying without a Real ID? It could cost you $18 and a trip through a new screening process

St. Paul: World Juniors hockey event brings Bold North festival downtown

Travel: The islands of Indonesia offer unforgettable experiences

Elaine Hsieh Chou aimed to write Asian American characters she hadn’t seen before

“Skin” focuses on the animal and human side of skin, and how it has evolved. One major focus of the exhibit is how humans have ascribed meaning and value to skin color, and how racist practices and ideals have tainted perceptions of different skin tones.

“I think we’re at a point in our country’s history, but it seems to be happening globally, where people in power are looking for ways to divide people instead of unite them,” Early said. “And there’s so much more that unites us as humans than divides it, as people who look slightly different from each other.”

Guests are immediately greeted by the recreation of a life-size black rhinoceros, a realistic replica of the animal meant to highlight one of the many ways skin can evolve for living beings.

“Its not a good idea to move taxidermy that large, especially not a rhino, because their horns are really in demand on the black market,” Early said. “So our team worked with, funnily named, Blue Rhino, which is a local sculpting group.”

The display highlights the continued risk rhinos face, as the animals are poached for their horns, including the conservation efforts of the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching unit that works to protect the rhino population in South Africa.

“Rhino horn is actually bone. It’s derived from skin, as are feathers, as is fur, and all the different ways that show up in the animal kingdom,” Early said.

The Science Museum of Minnesota invites guests to explore the armor of the animal kingdom with the new exhibit, “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity.” Open through June 1, 2026, the exhibit offers a deep dive into the functions and different ways skin has evolved, including the history of skin color and racism in America. (Science Museum of Minnesota)

Another part of the exhibit demonstrated how new skin is developed through a video display. According to the display, new skin cells are formed every four weeks, as illustrated by the constantly moving skin assembly line.

“This exhibit really hammered home in a way that I hadn’t fully appreciated how our skin, our human skin, is just an ecosystem from really tiny things,” Early said.

This ecosystem includes face mites, a microorganism that lives within hair follicles, as described by another display in the exhibit.

But the core of the exhibit is the human aspect, the human skin and how it has been looked at throughout history. The display features replicas of historical tools used to subjugate communities of color, including an interactive consensus that allows insight into how people would have been categorized over time.

However, there are also real items included.

The display also includes a braid of human hair that is on loan from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum in San Francisco. Blurred behind greyed-out glass out of sensitivity, guests can choose to interact with the display in a way they feel comfortable.

“You can push that button and make the glass clear if you want to see it,” Early said. “It’s tied to racism against Chinese immigrants.”

The Science Museum of Minnesota invites guests to explore the armor of the animal kingdom with the new exhibit, “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity.” Open through June 1, 2026, the exhibit offers a deep dive into the functions and different ways skin has evolved, including the history of skin color and racism in America. (Science Museum of Minnesota)

The exhibit leads directly into the museum’s permanent display on the history of race in America, a choice that highlights the meaning society has ascribed to a scientific difference in compounds produced by the skin.

“It’s a message that the Science Museum has been putting at the forefront for a very long time,” Early said. “We’re a science institution that is centered in equity.”

The museum also offers expert-led tours of the exhibit as well as adult-only nights on Fridays, which include all exhibits currently on display.

‘Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity’

Where: Science Museum of Minnesota, 120 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul

When: The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday, with the exhibit running through June 1

Tickets: $34.95 (adults), $24.95 (youth ages 4-17) and free for children 4 and under, more information available at smm.org/visit/

Related Articles

MN History Center: Five objects with Minnesota stories to tell

How two Minnesota cookbooks helped a generation of home cooks and students

MN Children’s Museum: Free admission in November for those on SNAP

Lionel Laurent: Louvre robbery gang used a brazen new criminal blueprint

Artist Dyani White Hawk finds affinity between Native, Western abstraction

Today is Saturday, Nov. 22, the 326th day of 2025. There are 39 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 22, 2017, Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb general whose forces carried out the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 — the worst massacre in Europe since World War II — was convicted of genocide and other crimes by the United Nations’ Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and sentenced to life behind bars.

Also on this date:

In 1718, English pirate Edward Teach — better known as “Blackbeard” — was killed during a battle with British naval forces near Ocracoke Island in North Carolina.

Related Articles

Flu activity is low, but experts worry about a new strain and vaccination rates

Info to decipher secret message in Kryptos sculpture at CIA headquarters sells for close to $1M

Fiery UPS plane crash could spell the end for MD-11 fleet if the repairs prove too costly

Ex-Georgia deputies cleared of murder in death of Black man shocked at least 15 times

Trump administration sues California over giving in-state tuition to immigrants in US illegally

In 1935, a flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, California, carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight.

In 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was shot to death during a motorcade in Dallas; Texas Gov. John B. Connally, riding in the same car as Kennedy, was seriously wounded. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.

In 1986, 20-year-old Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight boxing champion in history, stopping WBC titleholder Trevor Berbick in the second round of their championship bout in Las Vegas.

In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win reelection to the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced she would resign.

In 2005, Angela Merkel took office as Germany’s first female chancellor.

In 2010, a panicked crush at a festival in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh left nearly 350 dead and hundreds injured in what the prime minister called the country’s biggest tragedy since the 1970s reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge.

In 2022, a Walmart manager pulled out a handgun before a routine employee meeting and began firing wildly in the break room of a company store in Chesapeake, Virginia, killing six people and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor-filmmaker Terry Gilliam is 85.
Hockey Hall of Famer Jacques Laperrière is 84.
Astronaut Guion Bluford is 83.
Tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King is 82.
Rock musician-actor Steven Van Zandt is 75.
Rock musician Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads) is 75.
Actor Richard Kind is 69.
Actor Jamie Lee Curtis is 67.
Actor Mads Mikkelsen is 60.
Actor Mark Ruffalo is 57.
Tennis Hall of Famer Boris Becker is 58.
Actor Scarlett Johansson is 41.
Actor Alden Ehrenreich is 36.
Actor Dacre Montgomery is 31.
Actor Auliʻi Cravalho is 25.

The Timberwolves led the Suns by eight points in the final minute of Friday’s NBA Cup bout.

And they lost by one, as Collin Gillespie scored in isolation with 6 seconds left to put Phoenix up 114-113 and Julius Randle’s attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer went awry at the other end.

The Timberwolves turned the ball over three times in a span of 27 seconds and Anthony Edwards missed a pair of free throws as Minnesota fell apart, even after Devin Booker fouled out with more than two minutes to play.

“We lost our minds. Poor execution. Turnovers, obviously,” Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters, “and just didn’t stay locked in for the last 90 seconds.”

Minnesota will now need to beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Wednesday if it wants to advance to the NBA Cup knockout round for the first time in the event’s short history.

The Wolves are now 0-6 this season against teams with winning records.

Here are takeaways from Minnesota’s stunning defeat:

A bad loss

Minnesota was 8-0 against Denver and Phoenix last season. It’s now 0-3 against those teams thus far this year.

Phoenix was down two rotational players in Jalen Green and Grayson Allen on Friday.

Booker fouled out with a few minutes to play. Dillon Brooks fouled out in the final 30 seconds. And yet Minnesota still couldn’t maintain enough composure to shut the door.

The Wolves’ execution simply isn’t where it needs to be over the course of 48 minutes to beat the NBA’s best at the moment. If Minnesota needs an extra win for any reason at season’s end, it will lament this Friday night in November.

Rough start

Minnesota dropped the first quarter by eight points and trailed by 13 at the half on a night where it struggled to match Phoenix’s execution and physicality out of the gates.

That’s been a common theme for the Timberwolves, who have struggled against good teams. Minnesota has beaten up on cupcakes, but it’s a different level of basketball against winning teams. It took the Wolves awhile to adjust to that on Friday.

Edwards explodes

After a couple clunkers, Edwards responded with a 41-point performance on Friday. That included a 19-point third quarter in which he made seven of his first nine shots of the frame.

Edwards got a few triples to fall, but more importantly, he was aggressive in attacking the rack and creating for himself and others.

But Edwards will lament the final minute, in which he turned the ball over and missed a pair of free throws in the final 12 seconds that would’ve set Minnesota up for victory.

Booker struggles

Jaden McDaniels continues to have Booker’s number. Phoenix’s star guard went just 4 for 18 from the field before fouling out.

And while Booker had 10 assists, those were cancelled out by nine turnovers, which tied his career high.

Dating back to Minnesota’s playoff sweep of Phoenix in 2024, McDaniels and the Wolves’ defense continues to bother Booker.

Gobert grinds it out

Had Minnesota won the game, Rudy Gobert would’ve been an unsung hero. He was relentless on the interior, delivering one play on the glass after another.

Gobert was the one who drew the foul on a rebounding attempt that fouled out Booker. Gobert had seven points and five boards in the final frame alone.

Related Articles

Timberwolves player net ratings through 15 games: Jaylen Clark now No. 1 for Minnesota

Frederick: No, Anthony Edwards is not an MVP candidate. This week reminds us why

Jaden McDaniels’ iron-man streak comes to end

Is Timberwolves guard Jaylen Clark a … defensive superstar?

Five takeaways from the Wolves win over Dallas

Chase Bjorgaard and Edina made history Friday night.

It’s an achievement made even sweeter because of Bjorgaard’s own backstory.

Two years after being stopped less than a yard shy of the goal line on a 2-point conversion attempt that would have lifted his team to a state title, the now-senior running back tied a Prep Bowl record with six touchdowns Friday night as the Hornets beat Moorhead 42-35 in this season’s Class 6A state championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Bjorgaard finished the night with 31 carries for 320 yards and four touchdowns, while catching two passes for 31 yards and two more scores.

It marked the first state title for an Edina school since Edina West beat Fridley 21-0 for the then-Class 2A championship in 1978. Edina West and East merged back into one high school in 1981, and in the modern era, the Hornets had only been back to the state championship game once until this season.

That came two years ago when Edina fell 28-27 to Centennial.

Then-sophomore quarterback Mason West threw a 21-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left to pull the Hornets within one, but Edina elected to go for the win and Bjogaard was stopped just short — a memory he has carried for two years now.

Both he and West were also members of the Hornets’ hockey team that fell 4-3 to Moorhead in the Class 2A state semifinals last March, and Edina lost 51-44 to the Spuds on the football field in the regular-season finale on Oct. 15.

So, Friday’s win represented redemption in many different ways.

The Hornets finished their season 9-4 overall. Moorhead finished its first season in Class 6A with a record of 8-5, though the first four of those losses came with dynamic junior quarterback Jett Feeney out with an injury.

Feeney — who threw for 487 yards and four touchdowns during the first meeting between the two teams this season — was again impressive Friday, breaking a Prep Bowl record with 373 yards passing and helping his team post a 19:35-4:25 edge in time of possession in the first half.

The Spuds mounted scoring drives of 17 plays on each of their first two possessions, taking a 15-8 lead when Feeney scored on a 7-yard run with 6:11 to play in the second quarter.

Each time, though, Edina had an answer in Bjorgaard. He scored on a 26-yard touchdown run, then caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from West to cut the gap to 15-13 with 3:42 to go in the second quarter.

The Hornets got a big break when Moorhead gambled on 4th-and-6 at its own 26-yard line and Feeney’s pass fell incomplete. Three plays later, West again found Bjorgaard on a 7-yard touchdown pass that put Edina on top for the first time at 20-15.

The Spuds drove the ball all the way to the Hornets’ 25 in the final minute of the first half. But Edina senior Henry Couchman came up with an interception on the goal line to end the threat and the first half ended with the Hornets still on top by five.

Bjorgaard was back at it to start the second half, breaking free on a 49-yard run that set up his own 3-yard touchdown run one play later. That expanded his team’s lead to 27-15.

But Moorhead roared right back, scoring on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Feeney to fellow junior David Mack. The extra-point attempt failed, but the Spuds cut the gap to 27-21.

Then — after Edina was stopped on downs at the Moorhead 28 late in the third quarter — the Spuds drove 72 yards in 11 plays to retake the lead at 28-27 on Feeney’s 4-yard touchdown run with 9:13 to play in the fourth.

Once more, though, Bjorgaard wouldn’t be denied, breaking free on a 59-yard touchdown run on the Hornets’ next play from scrimmage to put his team back on top 34-28.

Then, after Edina stopped Moorhead on downs at its own 36, Bjorgaard notched his record-tying sixth touchdown on a 24-yard run that made the score 42-38 with 3:33 remaining.

But the Spuds wouldn’t roll over, scoring in just two plays on an 86-yard touchdown pass from Feeney to junior Zak Walker to trim the deficit to 42-35 with 2:51 still left to play.

But once the Hornets got the ball back, they were able to run out the clock to seal the state championship they’ve been looking for since falling just short two years ago.

Related Articles

Prep Bowl: Minneota, Orono, Jackson County Central win state championships

High School Football: How Spring Lake Park re-established its culture to reach the Prep Bowl

Girls hockey: ‘Out of this world’ start for Sarah Johnson has Mounds View/Irondale undefeated

St. Paul: World Juniors hockey event brings Bold North festival downtown

Last night in HS sports: Stillwater wins boys hockey opener, Rosemount’s Ramlall sisters shine