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)
==================================================================
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 coffee is packed. What was I thinking? Oh. My coffee pot is packed as well... ;o]
Tea.
I don’t even understand that kind of thinking. The last few times we’ve moved, the coffee and coffee pot are two of the last things to get packed.
That used to be my way of thinking, as well, but this move has been a little different all the way around.
Well, tea, yes, but only in cycles. And only cold. I don’t seem to like hot drinks these days. It started with coffee, and I found myself liking it better when it was cold and sweet. And then it was just natural migration to tea being cold, though I’ve always liked iced tea.
So that’s probably why the coffee pot got packed. ;o]
Tiny kitten bite you!
I’m askeered a tiny kitten!
Good morning. I hope you slept well.
It was a long evening but it was worth it.
I’m going to make a couple of minor changes to the talk, mostly just rearranging a sentence or two. Then I’m done. for REAL! LOL!
I’m glad things worked out well. I’m thinking about cleaning the stove and mopping the floors this morning. Sally and Josh are supposed to be over for supper. She’s thinking of going back to school and wants to discuss options.
Also, making minor changes can be helpful, because it means you’re going over the text numerous times and building your familiarity.
That should be, erm, exciting. Sally actually asking advice from parental units? Whoa!
She’s talking to Tom, too. It’s amazing how, once people move out, they find they have no motivation for hating one another. Although it was stressful having two drama queens (one a giant!) in the house, I think it was better for both of them than being allowed to flourish unchallenged.
Sibling rivalry is the practice field for life.
Ugly gray day, but much cooler today. I wonder if it’s the smoke from the CA fires. ... I just checked what maps I could find and it looks like that’s exactly what it is.
Oh joy.
I have begun to clean!
We have about a quarter mile visibility due to the smoke from the epic forest management fail in that state to the left of us.
You have my sympathy. We lived in that state in the early 70s, when ash would fall like snow.
We’re about 75 miles away, and the cars have visible ash on them. Too fine to look like snow, more like grey dust.
The state to the left of you uses no sense when it comes to forestry.
We’re getting some of the smoke so the sun is coming up in a blaze of orange-tinged brownish-something.
I’m concerned about the delivery as it’s been so long since I gave a talk. It will work out, though, I’m sure.
Right now, it sounds exactly like I’m reading it and I want to try and add some life when I read it tomorrow.
Deep breath, big smile, and imagine you’re talking to nully and me.
I’ve seen people give talks with no visible pages and no teleprompters and yet they can go for 15 or 20 minutes and sound like they’re your BFF.
That won’t be me!
But I’ll give it my best! ;o]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.