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 ...
Crops are interesting and not quite so odiferous as critters.
Yeah, there was a pig farm in northern Las Vegas (not to be confused with North Las Vegas) that had a thriving pig farm for 75 years or more. And then people began to buy property, and the next thing you know, suddenly the pig farm was stinky.
Like building close to an airport and complaining about the noise.
I swam in the summer, but it was only in the town pool. I swam a lot! I never saw an orange grove until my first trip to SoCal at the age of 17, as a brand new bride. Meh.
Well, kids, it’s that time again for me, so I’ll be heading down the hall.
ArGee, I hope your day was an improvement over yesterday, and that you felt better!
HK, you might check in over the weekend! It would be nice, since after tomorrow, we won’t have any kittehs until a week’s gone by.
:o]
The farmer said that right after they shut down their hog operation, the price of pork crashed, so it was all for the best.
I’ll be doing a couple of three projects Saturday, but I’ll try to get in here am & pm and on Sunday just to keep the air circulating.
I’ve found this t-shirt design website that my daughter’s school uses to make their school spirit wear, and I’ve been playing with it.
Dunno whether I shared this before, but it’s pretty cool — custom stuff for $25... I bought one last month and I think it was $32 delivered right to my front porch.
I think that’s the same place my son has his work shirts printed at. He owns a handyman service and wears both long and short-sleeved shirts. He even sent me one. Though I’ve lost so much weight, it’s pretty baggy on me!
What a pretty little cali!
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
Miserable night, last night, but today is another day in spite of it.
Are you ready to go? I hope you get some rest on this vacation! The chillrun are all old enough to not be quite so needy.
You would think, sigh. The other evening, DP and I were at the park with Kathleen. She wanted to go to a different playground (there are two), so we walked over there.
I wanted to look in the woods for a minute, so I pointed to the playground and said, "You go on, we'll be there in a minute." Maybe five minutes later, DP and I got to the playground, and we couldn't find Kathleen.
"Deleted expletives. You go that way, and I'll go this way." I hadn't gone many steps this way before Kathleen ran up from behind me. "Where were you? I was looking for you!" "In the woods for a minute. Why weren't you at the playground WHERE YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO PLAY!?!" Yammer yammer excuse yammer.
Then we couldn't find DP, who had, obviously, a totally different idea of "that way" from what I had indicated.
In summary, what I really want is for them all to go on vacation without me. I'd even dig into my Run Away to Colombia Stash (which you get if I die), so they could hire a housekeeper.
I know it will be better than I anticipate. I'm always furious when we're trying to get on the road somewhere and there are a thousand things to do and nobody but me doing them.
“...I’m always furious when we’re trying to get on the road somewhere and there are a thousand things to do and nobody but me doing them.”
Yes, I know the feeling. It’s faint, but still there, and you’ll find, as the years pass, that it happens less and less. Your children will be on their own and you’ll be able to actually relax on a vacation.
I never knew what vacations were for, having had very few of them growing up.
Will you be leaving soon?
We’re leaving noonish. It will all get handled, and anything that doesn’t, I can get Tom to do it later.
Is this a new place you’re visiting?
I have to run to Lin’s before the tourists begin to hit. I think that store exists because of the tourists!
I’ll be back in a few!
We have stayed in the same general area several times, but the house is new to us.
Well, as the late Igor used to say, “A change is as good as a rest,” but since he was never a mother, I don’t think he understood what he was saying.
Back from my excursion. It went out of my control. I took a short-cut to Walmart on my way to Lin’s, and picked up a pair of Croc-wannabes to use as slippers. Why I never thought of it before, I have no idea. But I got white ones so they can be seen in the ambient light of the bedroom. No more guck on my bare feet!
Yeah, vacation is different when you take your job on the road. On the other hand, staying in a house is easier than camping.
Yes, by all means, staying in a house is easier!
There is something to be said for camping, but I’ve never understood folks who take their TVs and generators out in the woods so they can be one with the universe.
We had a generator, a TV and a VCR player but that was because we lived at the campgrounds we hosted. The job lasted three years and was volunteer, but we enjoyed every minute of it.
We’ve talked about doing longer duration camping trips but haven’t tried it yet.
I love camping, but I’m afraid I don’t have the muscle or the stamina for the schlepping part of it, just the enjoying part.
We generally have only a few yards to schlep, from the parking spot to the tent site.
Not like the campsites I’m used to! Park, schlep, check out the space, schlep, check out the next space... The best spots have the level, smooth ground close to running water. What fun!
It’s sunny and not quite as warm today. Chillier in Dogpatch.
I need to go take the license plate frame off the tracker, and the stuff out of the glove department. The stuff in the cargo hold was taken out a month ago, so I’m deciding if I want to lift the seat up or not. Maybe. I’m hoping Casey hasn’t changed his mind. I’ll check with him this week.
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