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 ...
I’ve had a shower. Next step is to start moving gear out to the driveway.
I was going to send a text but I figured you were busy getting ready and would wait until later.
The smoke seems to be lifting somewhat, but stuff that’s in the complex isn’t. I’ll just have to keep praying that the move will take place soon.
Unnngh. I hope the move is soon, too!
We’re nearly loaded up. The trip is something under 2 hours, so there’s no rush.
Safe journey!
Jake is already sad because I took my blanket and pillow.
Ohnoes!!! Not the blanket and pillow??? Whatever will Jake slobber on and “make soft?”
Indeed, this is the week I work remotely. And most people here are not wearing or mandating masking. It’s just in NYC where the Mayor needs to show he is doing something useful that he’s doing useless things in a very forceful way.
I’m sorry, ArGee, but for some reason, my laptop didn’t show your post when I refreshed the page several times.
I was trying to ride herd on the morphine prescription that was supposedly phoned in to the pharmacy on the 4th. You know? The one I specifically asked about? “The prescription has been sent in, right?” just before I left the office. Yeah, that one.
When I didn’t get a text from Walgreen’s by yesterday, I started to wonder if my world tilted a bit. So today I called the store and no prescription had been received, Wednesday or any day since.
Then the text came in that they were out of stock. So I called the main clinic in St George and explained the problem and about 15 minutes later, they phoned back, asked me if I wanted to go to Walmart and get it or Hurricane Family Pharmacy, and I chose the latter because it was closer, and I had been using my emergency stash for two days, today being the third.
How does that happen in a pain clinic? Nah, I know you don’t know the answer; I was just axin’ myse’f.
Page one: the sofa. An enigmatic creature that lurks in nearly every house, hunting humans for their energy.
And you would know about that, Darks! LOL!
I hope you have a good day, and that things have evened out a little for you.
I think I’m alone, now...
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.
Apparently I had the same refresh problem and just saw this post.
Some people work at something like a pain clinic and think, “This is how I help people.” Others think, “I have a job.”
I see that "Our Sofa" could actually be a page turner. I'll get some snacks so I can settle in for the long haul.
Since I don't see a kitteh let me supply a "late morning" one.
And some people, no matter where they work, don’t think at all.
It’s a done deal, now though, and I’m grateful. Before I was put on morphine, I was crabby because of the pain and the added humiliation of not being able to do my housework and hating shopping because it meant standing, which means pain.
Now I’ve been on morphine six years, I wonder (especially since Wednesday) “How did I ever get along without this stuff?”
Most of the time, the folks at the clinic are good people and really are trying to help, and all of them are grateful to have jobs. You can tell that from their demeanor. It was just such a surprise to not have the prescription when it was supposed to be there. And my bad for not checking on it Friday.
Now THAT’s a happy greeting!
Thanks, ArGee! It’s very nice of you to step in and post the morning kitteh for T-c!
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Not my fault
Fault is an interesting concept. Didn’t you write a story in an alternate universe about robot lizards taking over the world?
I hope everyone is enjoying summer so far.
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