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 ...
My mother always said of the five of us at home when I was a very short person, “You’ve got no brains. Just a sense of humor.”
I think she was right, but then, I’d rather have a sense of humor than just be an intellectual. They just sit around smoking pipes and playing chess.
We’ve all got brains and senses of humor.
Happy Friday! I’m going to the DMV this morning, what fun. After that, we’ll see. Maybe a trip to Super G Asian Mart with Tom to shop for alien noodles for the campout. He’s going to stir-fry.
What a precious kitteh!
Good morning.
I hope you had a good night, without having to fight Jake for the pillow or DP for the bed.
Now I’m going to go take a shower and see if I can start my day by steaming out the kinks.
We need brains and senses of humor in order to get along in this world!
Golly. I’ve never been to an Asian market, but I bet they smell delicious.
Now I’m REALLY going to go shower! ;o]
Jake was out all night, and DP didn’t have any issues that I remember.
Off to the DMV in a few minutes, catch you later!
Today’s special animal friend is the Plain Chachalaca, Ortalis vetula. This tropical bird is fairly common in eastern Mexico and Central America. In the United States, its range is limited to the southern tip of Texas, just north of the Rio Grande.
It seems to be called the “plain chachalaca” because of its drab appearance. Both sexes are about the size of a crow, around 20” in length. They have a grayish head, brownish gray or olive back, and whitish or light brownish underparts. All these “-ish” colors are excellent camouflage in their habitat of low forests and scrubland. They have a relatively impressive tail, nearly as long as the head-body length, which is black with a diagonal white band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOd0GaHuP9k
The plain chachalaca lives in small family groups. Five is typical – parents and (sigh) teenbros – but when food is very abundant, several families can often be found together. They forage in the trees and on the ground, usually during the morning and early evening. They eat berries, buds, flowers, and insects. They are quite active in the trees, going far out on thin branches and sometimes hanging upside down.
Couples nest in trees, shrubbery, or tangles of vines, often using the abandoned nest of another species as a foundation. They may nest up to 35 feet above the ground, but 5 to 15 feet is more typical. The nest is built of sticks, twigs, leaves, vines, Spanish moss, and other debris, and it can resemble a random accumulation of vegetation, except for the depression in the center. The female lays from 2 to 4 eggs, which she incubates for around 25 days. Both parents feed the hatchlings, beginning with regurgitated food items. Chicks can fly successfully at 2-3 weeks of age, but they remain with the parents much longer, sigh.
Natural predators of the plain chachalaca include small mammals, reptiles, and birds of prey. Like some other birds, they will gather in a group to mob predators such as owls and chase them from the territory.
The plain chachalaca is a species of Least Concern. They are a game bird in South Texas and parts of Mexico, but hunting is mainly casual and does not significantly affect their population. Habitat loss has reduced their numbers in some parts of their range.
Here is a nice view of a male plain chachalaca – the red throat patch is breeding plumage – making their characteristic call. In large numbers, they can make a real ruckus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdlC96O2xOw
Well, once again we have made it to Friday. Happy Friday.
I take a train back home this evening. Next week is a remote week.
Life is so fun when people allow themselves to be ruled by whims.
Thanks! That was interesting, though in all my years of hearing the word “chachalaca,” I don’t think I ever once associated it with a bird! LOL!
Have no fear, T-c. Sooner or later, the call of the wild things will draw the teenbros out of their native habitat and you’ll then be an empty nester.
Happy Friday to you, ArGee, and I suspect it really is, after this week of culture shock.
At least with working remotely next week, you won’t have to worry about the Identification Papers, please.
I was previously unaware of this bird.
It certainly has a strange call, but the little gal who introduced it needs to slow down her speech. It was just too much all at once!
*tagline*
My dog chases rats.
My cat watches.........................
Yeah, I thought you’d like that! ;o]
Thanks, I needed the laugh after the DMV. I am never going back to Monroe. I even filed a complaint.
The desk clerk, the same one with, “You’ve got to stand on the DOTS!” from when the byos were getting ID cards,” asked me for my marriage certificate when I presented my documents to upgrade to a REAL ID. My documents that all had my same name on them, from my birth certificate to my passport to the active NC Driver’s License I was updating. She asked the lady ahead of me, whose transaction was an address change, “Are you married?” Asked her several times, because the lady said, “What?” and “Are you kidding?”
I was afraid I’d be stuck in the parking lot until they closed, but there was a guy hanging out in his car next to me, and he very kindly spotted for me so I could back without disaster.
Oh, golly! I would have done more than filed a complaint, I think I would have plastered the incident on My Neighborhood, or whatever it is. I’m glad you got it done, anyway, and that the cat video helped, even though it WAS a commercial!
I’m going to take a Down Day. I can’t seem to get away from doing things or going places every day, and it wears me out, so I’m just going to stay home and do nothing today. I think I’ll have to go to Walgreen’s tomorrow for the morphine, so today is a Nothing Day.
It wasn’t worth making a larger stink, since I succeeded in getting the transaction done.
Tom has arrived and is taking Vlad for a drive. I need to organize some pages for choir, I suppose.
So, there’s a lot of graffiti on parts of the WTC complex that looks like it was actually paid for. There’s one barricade with this phrase tagged on it:
“Dream until your dreams become reality.”
I suppose I know what they’re trying to say, but all I can think is that encouraging schizophrenia isn’t wise.
Or maybe the current environment of discouraging accepting reality is getting to me.
I’m getting really sick of platitudes and tautologies.
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