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 ...
So have I, but those people aren’t doing it once every 15 years. They’re doing it a lot.
Yes this is true! Professional speakers, as it were. And I just plod along. ;o]
Most of us do. Your story will be interesting to many and deeply meaningful to a few. Think about the ones who really need to hear it.
Well, I certainly could have chosen another subject or based my talk on Elder Teixeira’s talk completely, but I felt it best to use the subject that best defines me and who I am today.
It’s not pleasant to tell people all the dark secrets of how hard I struggle to appear “normal,” when I know my entire being has been compromised by this insidious disease. But as you and I both agree: someone needs to hear it.
Father Richard Rohr says that humans want to display only our “light side,” the parts we think are worth showing to others, that won’t embarrass us ... but everyone has a “shadow side,” too: weaknesses, failure, disability, whatever.
Letting others know something about your “shadows” allows them to be more accepting of their own, and that’s important, because denying parts of yourself is unhealthy.
“...denying parts of yourself is unhealthy.”
Which is why newly disabled people are so angry. They’re angry most of all because their bodies have let them down, but they’re angry too because it means change, and people don’t really like change.
Abusers don’t want to quit abusing because they like the way it makes them feel. Actors don’t want to quit acting because a lot of them have lost their real identities and they don’t know who they are. Married people don’t want to get divorced because they don’t want to be alone. The death of a spouse makes the remaining spouse angry at the abandonment. Whatever the change is that faces a person is scary and they don’t like being afraid so they get angry.
Yepper. Years of therapy after the car accident changed how I looked and then more years of therapy because CFIDS changed who I was. I know all about change. :o])
HEY! I could write a talk about that!
You could, but you already have a perfectly nice talk for tomorrow!
Yes, I do!
I just got back from the library. Sharon stopped by unannounced and I finally told her I was talking. It’s been three weeks in the making, I think, and I never told her.
Anyway, I had to wait for her to leave so I could go. ;o]
Well, phoop. Tom has a throwing-up crud. I hope that, like Jake, it’s just something he ate and he will soon feel better!
I keep charcoal capsules on hand and they let me know in a hurry if it was something I ate, or something I wish I hadn’t come near.
I hope Tom feels better soon!
He’s looking forward to the campout, on which we leave mid-day Monday, so I hope it’s a quick turnaround on this crud. He could drive up Tuesday, I guess, if he’s not better by Monday.
Well, I do hope he’s feeling well enough to go with you, rather than after you.
Since I was up “late” last night, I’m heading for bed now, so I hope you have a good night and I’ll see you in the morning!
So do I. I’ll text him this evening to see how he’s feeling and if he needs anything.
I hope you have a great night and feel super spry in the morning!
I slept, but had about a 40 minute interval where I was awake. Still, I’m OK, thanks.
Off to the shower and maybe I’ll feel better.
Good morning. Wishing you success with the shower! Tom was improving when I texted him in the evening.
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