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 ...
Of all things...a couple of last minute tweaks this morning and the printer didn’t want to print the pages.
I’m glad Tom was feeling better!
Floofy kitteh, so cute for Sunday!
Write it in with a pen?
Printer. Fixed. Talk. Printed. And DONE!
Now, I’ll drink my tea while listening to a talk and then go make the bed and from there, who knows?
The skirt is ironed and ready to be worn! ;o]
I’ll get in touch with Tom 10-ish. He doesn’t have too much to do, food-prep-wise.
I did that, but worst case scenario. It took just a couple of minutes to clean the printer heads, so it’s done and dusted.
Excellent. It sounds like you’re all set. What time (Eastern) do you expect to be speaking?
After the opening remarks so depending on whether there are any announcements, it will be about 9:10. The talk is just over 12 minutes, which is good. It’s not too long and not too short.
And no, I’m not excited! LOL! It’s not like I’ve never done it, and as I’ve said before, it’s just a little larger audience than a Tupperware party.
I’ll have Sharon take a photo and send it to you. I think you’ll see a few changes from the last time you saw me!
9:10 your time or mine?
Mine.
Okay. That’s 11-ish my time.
Suddenly, I feel a little funny saying “your time” and “my time.”
Yes, well, it’s always our times! You could always ask, Eastern or Mountain?”
Yes, I could. “Your time” and “my time” seems like “your truth” and “my truth” or “your God” and “my God.” Just a little weird as a phrase.
Much simpler to say, “Eastern or Mountain,” so I’ll work on it!
Or we could live with the weirdness of being adrift in the space-time continuum.
Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?
Exactly!
I’m finally put together, after changing the top twice then back to the original. I’m not taking a shawl, and I realized that the other two tops were too lightweight and I would freeze. Being cold makes me stupid. So I put the heavier black one back on with only minor damage to my hair. ;o]
The smoke is bad again today, but I took an allergy pill and used some “7-Symptom Relief” eye drops, so hopefully, I’m good to go.
I’m as together as I’ll ever be! See ya when I get back, maybe. 1215 EDT.
Break a leg ;-).
I did. There were at least 10 people who “needed” to hear the talk. And there were a couple of tricky places where I began to break down, one of which was totally unexpected. But its done, and I gave you credit, though not by name.
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