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)
==================================================================
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 ...
Jake probably has what serves as male menopause in cats. Don’t turn your back on him because PMS is the next thing. ;o]
I have no brain today. Just gray lint.
Take a rest!
I don’t know what kind of hormone issues neutered male cats have, but he went totally bonkers when I was pregnant with Kathleen. He would throw himself on me and purr and claw and drool and make bizarre trilling gasps, like, “Your hormones are making me CRAZY!!!”
Well, Kathleen was the first pregnancy since you got Jake that wasn’t male, right? That would explain his slobbering, for sure. “I love your perfume!!” kinda thing.
I’m watching “He Named Me Malala,” and it’s quite a bit more interesting than I expected it to be.
Last night was a miserable night for whatever reason, so I’ll rest in a bit, when it’s time for bed. I felt too ugly yesterday to change the sheets, so tomorrow is going to be a brutal day.
I’ll also be doing some packing tomorrow as I’ve gathered up a thing here and another thing there and put them in other places where there will soon be boxes for them. I don’t want the last few days to be hectic so this next week is critical in the packing department.
We got Jake after Frank was born, so Kathleen was the only pregnancy.
I hope you have a good night. We’re all off to church!
Ah. OK.
Shannon and Jake were both fully ensconced, so maybe it was the whole hormone overload that he wasn’t expecting.
The bed is calling my name, loudly. I rested today because this week will be full. Life goes on, in spite of the packing/moving/planning things.
I’ll take my pills before I close this down.
This is it for me! Have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow! Sleep well!
Wish that were me!
In a basket with a bunneh. Happy Monday!
Sorry about the delay, and good morning.
I hope you had a good night, with no cat slobberings.
I got up later, deliberately, trying to see if I can do it without too much stress, but I think I picked the wrong Monday, since I didn’t change the sheets on Saturday, due to feeling so *blech* and that means the bed was stripped this morning and will have to be made later this morning.
The other set of sheets have been packed, along with the other towel set, so that much is taken care of.
Anyway, back from doing laundry and I feel like my day has been shortened by a lot of hours when it really hasn’t.
At least I’m feeling better!
Yesterday, while I was stuck here, I moved a few things to strategic places. Today, they may or may not go into boxes. I’m feeling good about the progress, regardless of the cold. The massive infusion of Emergen-C seems to have made the difference, so I’m good to go.
There was something else...
Ohyes...
I got out the file on the BB SUV and took out everything that had no relevance. All the repair sheets, maintenance, tire rotation, etc., are all that’s left in the file, so Navy will get three sets of keys (two with gas cap keys, one set for the key safe if he wants to use one) and since he knows Casey, getting the valve replaced should be no problem.
If I had opted to stay here and keep the BB SUV, I would have had it fixed and been making payments to Casey for it, so I doubt that Navy will have a problem working a deal with him on payment, if need be, since his history with Casey is longer and closer than mine.
It sounds like things are going very well for you today. Congratulations!
The young persons here are sleeping in, but I’m about to lose patience and start encouraging them to rise. It’s funny how the oldsters have more endurance ...
Jake was out all night. He’s napping on my bed now. I hope we can have a nap this afternoon.
Happy Monday!
Sounds like Monday was already a success for some.
Did you ever get a nap yesterday? It would seem you needed one when you got home, but you thought you’d delay it until after Mass.
I don’t know about “things going well” for me, but I feel better than I have in several weeks, so that’s a good thing all the way around. How that will translate into actual progress of things that have to be done is yet to be seen.
Next up on the agenda is making the bed.
I just now cleaned the mouse pad, which is the only thing I have to remind me of my days with the County. It has Taz on it, in a whirl of desk items.
I also cleaned the little coaster I made from a free kit of DMC yarn, right after I “retired.” I sprayed it with Scotch Guard when I first made it, but it has seen a lot of miles since then so I gave it a quick scrub today. I hate to, because the backing is only a thin piece of carboard with fabric stiffener as a “cover.” Now my hands feel like I have no fingerprints — all dry and stiff.
Happy Monday!
Did you have a good weekend? How is puppy doing? Has she had any more seizures?
I don’t know about success, but sitting down was a mistake for me! Now I want to go take a nap! Silly me: I have to make the bed, first!
No nap. Things got Interesting ;-). I watched some new videos about Ancient Egypt, though. Sally needed quotidian minutiae and history lectures. Young people are so overwrought about everything!
I watched some videos about ancient Egypt, too, and the more I watch, the more fascinating it becomes, and the more I want to learn about it. I wonder if its too late to be an archeologist?
One more box packed up and the pills have been sorted to realign with my schedule during the move. I won’t be able to sort them on the road, so I just got them started at Saturday, and that will be my move-in day, if all goes well.
I will take my next dose of pain pill and then, once it has done it’s job, I’ll go make the bed. I may get another box packed in the meantime. ;o]
It makes more sense to make the bed after the nap, no?
It was a good and successful weekend. We deployed a major upgrade with only minor issues, so that was good.
The last seizure was right before Labor Day. None since, but it was precisely 16 weeks between the last two so we’re not actually “due” yet.
These videos on ancient Egypt, are they movies like “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns” and “The Gods of Egypt”? I love those kinds of movies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.