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 ...
OK, Kids, I’m going to make one last check to see that I have everything and that everything else is in its place, so I’ll see you when I get back!
I’m not watching the fires at all.
Too much smoke to see them anyway...
I’m proud of both of you, and at least I didn’t gain everything both of you lost, only some of it.
While I’m bragging, my A1C was 5.6 on Monday...
Boy! Am I ever proud of you for that!! <3
I’m back, finally. I had some paperwork to fill out when I got home, so now, I’ll take my pills and have some lunch and see what kind of trouble I can stay out of.
I’m home, too. A little old man from Cuba asked me to sit next to him during the sermon, and he patted my hand.
It looks like the parties are going hiking, so I need to put on sunscreen and pants and boots.
Good luck on your hike!
Depending on when you return, I may or may not be here. If not, I’ll at least bid you good night!
I hope your hike was enjoyable and no one got sunburned! See you in the AM!
It was a nice walk of 5 miles or so. Then we dropped James and Vlad at church for youth group, and Tom went off home with his groceries, but not his frogs.
I’m going to take a shower and, I hope, have an early night, though maybe not as early as yesterday.
I could probably do a mile or maybe two, but at this point, it would have to be flat terrain.
Tom has frogs?
My Favorite Son and his Perfect Wife called last night. We talked for an hour and 38 minutes. For some reason I was pretty wired when I got off the phone with them. I never did get into a deep sleep and woke up at 10:30 and here I am.
I’ll get the laundry done at the usual time, but a nap will be in order at some time after that. This isn’t a good thing. I don’t need to start the insomnia cycle again. It’s too hard on me.
I’m off to nap for a bit...
Yesterday morning, Tom brought a foam cooler with bullfrogs that he’d caught in his landlord’s pool. As he was walking toward me, the lid got loose and the frogs hopped out. Tom chased them until they made it across the street toward the woods, where there’s an ephemeral wetland that often includes bullfrogs.
Later, Sally texted to say the Boyfriend With Good Teeth wondered if we would think its weird if he brought a bag of potatoes on the beach trip. “Tom just brought me a box of bullfrogs,” I replied. “Weird” has a high bar.
We’ll make potato wedges or potato soup.
The morning kitteh is wondering where everyone is on a Monday.
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
I don’t know if the nap was any good, but I’ll take it. I hung all the clothes as soon as I got back from the laundry room which I don’t think I’ve ever done since I got here. I usually wait for the pain to subside.
Boy, do I wish I’d done that! But it is what it is, and the laundry is out of the way and drying. Now I need to get something to eat. My blood sugar level is threatening to put me back to sleep!
Oh yes...Happy Labor Day!
Happy Labor Day! At least I’m not in labor ;-), but I’m working. I plan to go in an hour or so and get the oil changed in the van. I have another 20% off coupon, conveniently.
I’m glad you had a nap!
I’m not sure I feel much better after the nap but in a few hours, I’ll probably be glad I had it.
At least I got the flag up!
I got the oil changed on the van and then sat outside watching grass grow for a while. I’m considering a nap next. Tom just came by and got his birth certificate. He needs it for his new employment.
Yep, it sounds like one of those days when watching grass grow is a thing to do.
I’m watching a video on retracing Shackleton’s voyage to South Georgia. It’s excellently gripping! They built a replica of the Alexandra Shackleton and are wearing 1914 vintage clothing, following the same menu. It’s hard to take my eyes away from it!
Kevin and Mari are having James and Abbie over, and maybe Sam. They’re going to give me their kitchen table and chairs, so I don’t have to buy any! Yay!
It sounds like a decently fun time for all. I read the introduction of the new biography of Thomas Sowell, then fell asleep with Jake. DP is playing the guitar out on the lawn, and Tom is lounging in my lawn chair.
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