Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Date Night 2019: Tomb Raiders

Couples joined us this March in the quest for Count Monte L. Bean’s crystal skull. Their task was to follow Cleopold Reginald III, Madame Duvalt and Captain Reynold onto a secret island where many dangers lurked in order to collect the map pieces that would lead them to the hidden skull.

When they first entered this unknown land, they met an old hag who made them pass off riddles in order to explore further. After passing riddles off to the hag, the couples met a mystic who had them go through a maze blindfolded to earn a map piece.


After dodging dangerous obstacles in the maze, they were put through more danger as Cleopold Reginald III navigated them through lasers that were protecting the crystal skull.


If the couples didn’t set off any traps with the laser beams, they had one more task to complete before they had to go into the shadowlands. Couples braved the jungle with the captain and his first mate testing their expertise in shooting firearms.

Finally, they had to find a map piece and the numbers hidden around the museum for the code to unlock Madame Duvalt’s safe which held the final map piece. Wandering around the museum proved to be very dangerous because of the fearsome shadowguards who dwell in the shadowlands. These creatures were deposited on the island to protect Monte L. Bean’s crystal skull and while they cannot speak, their grunts and growls sent a chill down every couple’s spine, especially because couples never knew where the shadowguards were hiding.


One couple showed great bravery and adventurous spirits as the first couple to collect all the map pieces, allowing them to go down into the depths of the museum and retrieve the crystal skull. Congrats!

Thank you to all the couples who joined us for this adventure-packed date night! We hope to see some new faces at our Clue-themed date night in the fall. Visit our website to learn more about our upcoming events.

Monday, March 11, 2019

New Exhibit: Understanding the Principles of Evolution

If you have been to the Bean Museum recently, you might have noticed a closed-off section of our museum on the main floor. You might even say our exhibits are evolving...


We are excited about the opening of our new exhibit, Understanding the Principles of Evolution, on Wednesday, March 13. This exhibit will feature four main sections covering the following topics: adaptation, natural selection, artificial selection, and supporting evidence of the theory of evolution.

Duke Rogers, director of the Bean Museum, explained the purpose of this new exhibit in our museum:

The museum’s Exhibits Committee had been contemplating the development of an exhibit about evolution for some time.  This past September, 2018, we decided to move ahead with an evolution exhibit and have its opening coincide with a College of Life Sciences seminar by Dr. John Hawks on March 14th, 2019.  Dr. Hawks, the co-describer of the fossil hominid species Homo naledi, was invited by faculty in the Biology Department and we decided to have a permanent display about the science of evolution as well as a temporary exhibit dealing specifically with hominid evolution – the general topic of Dr. Hawks’ research seminar.  The Biology Department offers two classes about evolution and has a number of hominid fossil reconstructions that faculty generously allowed us use in the hominid display.  The Exhibits Committee hopes that our patrons will spend time contemplating our “Faith and Science” display before taking in our new evolution exhibit.  Our evolution exhibit fits the museum’s mission of showcasing the Earth’s biodiversity as well as explaining how science and faith are two compatible “ways of knowing”.


Regarding evolution, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have said, “The Church has no official position on the theory of evolution. Organic evolution, or changes to species’ inherited traits over time, is a matter for scientific study. Nothing has been revealed concerning evolution. Though the details of what happened on earth before Adam and Eve, including how their bodies were created, have not been revealed, our teachings regarding man’s origin are clear and come from revelation.” (New Era Oct 2016)


The purpose of this exhibit is to explore the well-supported scientific theory of evolution. The purpose is not to establish doctrine for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We hope that visitors will enjoy this exhibit and be inspired to learn more about how evolution impacts the natural world.

The following are a few highlights of our new exhibit:

1. Our first ever 3D-printed objects in the museum, including 5 canine skulls.


2. Fossils from 3 continents. (Africa, Europe, and North America)

3. Specimens from every continent except Australia.


Visit our website or read this BYU News article to learn more about this new exhibit.

We hope you enjoy this new addition to our museum and look forward to seeing you soon!