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 fall asleep if I’m reading in bed, too.
Well, I need to get dressed for church and review the psalm. Asuncion is back!
*tagline*
Good one.
Thanks. I had to play with it to make it fit, but I laughed out loud when I saw it on Facebook!
I may not leave it up, long, but it’s too funny not to share.
You could take “accidentally” out, since that kind of goes without saying.
Thanks! I could, couldn’t I? I’ll do that in a little while. ;o]
*tagline revision*
Looks good!
I need to take James and Vlad to church.
Thanks! Your help did it!
And now, I’m headed down the hall. Have a good night and sleep well!
What a beautiful tux!!
Good morning. I hope you slept well.
Done with the laundry except for hanging the clothes to dry, of course. But I’ll get to it. Eventually. Nothing else is planned, of course.
I want to wash the big heavy cover on my bed, and in researching the laundromat site the doors automatically unlock at 0600. I don’t know how much the machines cost, but I have plenty of quarters!
Good morning. I slept pretty well, thanks. Trips to the bathroom ...
I’m not ready to deal with the Youth, yet.
Yes. Trips to the bathroom. But for them, I could sleep all night!
Right now, I need to go hang the clothes and then we’ll see how I feel.
Mrs. ArGee bought a tunnel to train the pup to go through it. After receiving it she saw the same warning. I said, “It’s the state of California. You don’t need to worry about what they say.” But she worries.
Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday.
We managed to dodge Henri. We’re still under a flood watch but I suspect all we’ll get is some rain.
Good Monday morning.
I looked at the weather map this morning and thought, “I know a someone or two that are somewhat in the path of that thing.” Or something like that!
I’m glad to hear you’re OK. This is your “Home” week, yes?
I just saw a little clip about the “pallid bat.” It finds it’s meals on the ground instead of in the air!
G'orning, y'all.
Warm day here.
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