Posted on 06/11/2021 11:51:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
At 563 carats, the Star of India is the world’s largest gem-quality blue star sapphire, and is approximately 2 billion years old. (Image credit: D. Finnin/Copyright AMNH)
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What does the legendary Star of India — a 563-carat star sapphire the size of a golf ball — have in common with a 35-million-year-old petrified redwood slab; a massive cluster of sword-like crystals that looks like it came from "Game of Thrones;" and a 5-ton (4.5-metric ton) stone pillar that can "sing?"
You can see all of them, along with 5,000 other amazing stones, in the newly renovated Mignone Hall of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City, which is reopening after a four-year closure on Saturday (June 12). There, one-of-a-kind precious gems appear alongside odd-looking rocks — some of which date to billions of years ago — that have been uniquely warped and twisted by extreme temperatures and pressures.
Individually and together, these objects tell a story of the diverse geologic processes that shape minerals on Earth's surface and deep inside our planet, beginning when the world was young and continuing to this day, museum representatives told Live Science.
Related: 13 mysterious and cursed gemstones
The Star of India, which formed about a billion years ago, was discovered in Sri Lanka in the 18th century. It is one of the best-known gems in the world, in part because it was famously and brazenly stolen from AMNH in 1964, along with several more of the museum's prized stones, by a pair of thieves named Jack "Murf the Surf" Murphy and Allan Kuhn, Smithsonian reported in 2014, on the heist's 50th anniversary. (The one-of-a-kind sapphire was recovered and went back on display in 1965).
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Garage maybe? My house in Texas had the water heater and breaker box out there. Just a suggestion... Generally, your main dwelling breaker/fuse panels are inside. The exception being the main cut-off/breaker for an AC unit or pool heater/pump.
No garage. That would have been the first place I looked. I’ve missed it, somehow, but as I said, I just wanted to make sure he had access to it without wasting a lot of time moving things around to get to it. Boxes full of books are heavy!!
Put ... the candle ... back.
Did you find a fuse box?
Yes, and I have that movie as well! LOL! What a hoot!
Nothing. As I said. Chuck knows where it is, but if I’ve covered it, I wanted to make sure there were no boxes in his way when he comes to replace the switch. It’s his problem, now!
My personal library is up to 8 full sized book cases in 3 different rooms of my house.
If I have to move again, I’m hiring movers...
Four full-sized book cases, two smaller ones and a mongrel mid-size, extra-wide something that was on freecycle.com. Actually four of the book cases were on freecycle!
Book boxes are heavy, and unless I move into my own place, I won’t be moving again. I’m moving to AR because my son and grandson are there and my son has all the legal permissions. Just in case I don’t live forever, like I’ve planned! ;o]
With the exception of probably the last 15-20 books I’ve purchased, I’ve read them all.
Thanks, guys, for your help and suggestions! The breaker box is outside!
Chuck won’t be coming today after all. He said he’s been “under a sink for the last two hours,” so I told him we could do this on Monday. He looked relieved.
So two more days of not being able to finish up the packing in the kitchen. But that’s OK. I need the rest, since I don’t dare try to do too much!
Outside?
That would not be allowed here..............
Well, yeah, but this is a protected valley right next to Zion National Park, so...
Oh, that’s what happened!
Very amusing.
Kitteh is sneekin’ up on you!
Good morning.
Did you sleep well last night? I’m sure you’ll take a well deserved NapWithACat today.
How do your legs feel? I hope you’re well rested. Or at least on the way to it.
*tagline*
I slept okay. Jake will make sure we nap! Everything is tired, in general, but it could be a lot worse.
Shannon met me at the foot of the stairs to complain, so she’s feeling better!
I am so glad Shannon is feeling better! What an ordeal! Like a mugging of an old lady.
Does the license plate have to be tweaked?
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