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 ...
What? No “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out. I can make more just like you.”
Actually, my dad’s line was, “You better knock it off or you and I are gonna have one and I’m gonna win it.”
Nobody ever knew what one was. Nobody would ask. Dad’s gone and the answer is gone with him.
“As long as it wasn’t going pocketa-pocketa-queep...”
That was BEFORE coffee.
Looks like kittehs are back on the menu, boys!
Good morning. Did you sleep well?
I need to get moving and maybe get the Dainties folded and put away before I head to Wally’s. The weather foregnosticator’s warning is for 54°.
Yes, I had a pretty good night. No cat! Hope you are the same!
Be careful out there in the dark: there could be Student Drivers!
I’m always very careful in the dark! There are student drivers and just plain inattentive drivers.
The Dainties are folded and put away, the face and hair are combed and neatened, and I pulled out a jacket from the coat closet. I don’t think I have a hoodie heavy enough for the chill I’ll be facing when I get to Walmart.
Of course, right now, I want to go back to bed. However, if things work the way I hope, I’ll get a few boxes packed this morning. That will be a relief!
Friday, I’ll call AR and make sure I have the correct address. I need to get the address changed for a magazine subscription and also to fill out the change of address card that I got from Adam yesterday. He asked if it was for a neighbor because, surely, I wasn’t moving...
It was an OK night, thanks.
Fitbit says I had eight hours and one minute of sleep, and almost seven hours of it was “light” sleep. As long as I don’t wake up feeling like a pole-axed steer, I can function. Judging by the way I feel, there are no clouds in the sky, so I’m good.
It’s raining here. It was raining last night when Vlad drove home from Cub Scouts in the dark, but we lived.
It’s just cold here. The wind is blowing at 10 mph, but it’s probably twice that at Walmart. It always shows off at the pass.
I just realized how much I’m looking forward to spending a few days with my son. We’ll probably get tired of each other by the time we reach Dogpatch. ;o] And I’m sure we’ll have rain to drive though.
I do okay with my family members for a few days. One trick is to stay in the present, don’t bring up anything from the past unless it’s light and amusing.
Good morning. Happy Twosday!
Still sorta fall-ish here. But we were up to 55 this morning.
That sounds fun.
Absolutely! I don’t want to ruin a perfectly good road trip! There will be plenty of times to discuss whatever he wants to.
Back from Walmart with no mishaps, but boy! Was I ever right about the wind! I went to get out of the Tracker and the wind blew the door open. Common for there.
The jacket I chose was worthless.
Well, they are both very useful at times!
And, I could see the usefulness of those as well!
Are these the last of the moving chores that you are describing?
I had to go to LV a few years ago... it was worse than it was when I was forced to be there about 20 years prior...
Best wishes, for what sounds to be an interesting journey!
Good morning.
Just beginning on the last of the moving chores. I have a hard time with things like this because I’m either sick or tired or sick and tired. I have three weeks to pull it together, and there are really only three or four days in the week when I can actually work on it. Providing I feel up to it.
If I do anything in the morning, it usually means I can’t do any packing that day. So yesterday it was laundry, today it was shopping and I’ll also go to the library. So it looks like tomorrow will be the first day this week that I can do any packing. Providing the weather stays good!
But I’ll see if I can make it pay off!
We have an annoying drizzle. I hear the weekend is supposed to be nice, though.
There’s a card in the mail today! YAY!!
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