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 ...
Oh, I meant to mention: I once also traveled to the End of the Internet, it took me three years to get back!
Hopefully not too much weight... the world is already more than full with fat cats...
Placido Domingo, Kitteh FRiends!
Good morning.
I hope you slept well, even with a cat on your pillow. I slept.
I’ll take a shower then decide if I’m going to church. I’m usually up two hours ago on Sundays, just so I can surf the web, make comments, and have some quiet time before my day is filled with things that have to be.
It’s 63° out and though the chance of rain is in the low quarter of percentages, my body is telling me it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. So we’ll see how I feel when the shower is done. If I feel like a human, I’ll go to church.
Good morning. I’m glad you made it into the new day, even if it’s later than usual!
The cats didn’t want to get on the pillow, but they wanted to go out as soon as I got up. And in, and out, and in, and out.
According to the Fitbit, I only got eight hours sleep, but it has me awake during the night for over an hour. Not. Except for those times I got out of bed, I was asleep. Close to waking and aware a few times, but Fitbit registers it as “awake.” I consider “awake” as actually being aware of functioning. I wasn’t. So by my watch, I logged eleven hours.
Anyway, I’m planning on going to church, and it will be a chilly day. It won’t be any warmer when I leave for church than it is now. And I’m still not unpacking my winter clothes!
Put on your new jacket!
I’m glad you logged all those hours, regardless of the FitBit.
I’ve been wearing it almost every day, so it needs to be washed before I can wear it to church. I don’t think any amount of perfume will make up for the “worn clothes” smell. I’ll try to find a heavy shawl, but they’re mostly all packed. There is nothing in my closet with long sleeves except a Patriots T-shirt!
The Fitbit is useless, but I only need to wear it for two more months and I can get out of the study. It will probably mess up their figures something fierce!
It doesn’t take much, maybe half a pound, to take a cat from “stout” to “fat.”
Maybe they’ll lose it again now that they can go outside, especially if the weather gets cooler.
*tagline*
It depends on whether you need them to do something you can reasonably expect them to do.
Maybe everyone else in the study is getting wonky results with the FitBit, too.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
I know quite a few people who have worn Fitbit devices in the past, and usually, after a month or two, they quite wearing them. I think I know why! I know that the two controlled substances I take mess with my sleep, but CFIDS messed with it LONG before I ever started taking the drugs.
Now, however, I’m going to start getting ready for church!
I’ve got my pages ready for mass, but I need to practice the psalm.
I’m almost put together, but I feel rushed and I hate that. It will come together.
I found a little black dress at Walmart a few weeks ago for $5 and snapped it up. One of the few things on the sales racks these days in my size! As usual, it’s “hippy.” Maybe the shawl will cover it, somewhat.
I’m sure you’ll look perfect. You can wear your Asuncion beads ;-).
I bet being able to go outside and run around will work like a charm!
Most of my jewelry is packed, so I grabbed one of the packets of sets that was close to the top — coral. It worked and though the shawl I had picked clashed with it, I went with another, older one that was still out.
So I made it to church, and told the man I needed to tell that I would need the loading crew by no later that 0900 on Monday the 11th. If I can do the online check-in, I can get the truck earlier, and the folks can be there earlier. Once the truck is loaded, Kevin and I can clean and then head for Bloomington, where we will spend our last night in Utah.
I got tired. Again. And the chills are starting, so I’m going to head for bed and do the sensible thing, since I have to get up fairly early to do laundry.
When I’m done at the clubhouse, I’ll take the cover off the bed and wait for 0600 and head for the laundromat. The stress of sitting there, doing nothing for the two hours that I could be packing something will mean another day lost. And then Tuesday, with the trip to Walmart.
I got tired, too, after Mass, and went to lie down. Now I’m up again. There is much back-and-forthing with teenbros between now and my real bedtime.
Thank you.
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