Skip to comments.
See the 'Star of India,' decades after it was nabbed in a heist [NYC]
https://www.livescience.com ^
| JUNE 11, 2021
| By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer
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 ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; History; Travel
KEYWORDS: allankuhn; aluminium; aluminiumoxide; aluminum; aluminumoxide; bluestarsapphire; chromium; corundum; godsgravesglyphs; heist; iron; jackmurphy; magnesium; murfthesurf; sapphire; srilanka; starofindia; startrekiv; titanium; undead; vanadium
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 2,941-2,960, 2,961-2,980, 2,981-3,000 ... 5,461-5,468 next last
To: ArGee; Monkey Face
I’ve lost track of this discussion. I need to give Frank and Kathleen some math to do, and I’ll have to go to Walmart today.
2,961
posted on
09/30/2021 4:54:32 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: ArGee
LOL! Yep, it’s about that age!
2,962
posted on
09/30/2021 5:05:08 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Tax-chick; ArGee; zzeeman
That’s OK. I lose track of the discussions all the time, which makes me wonder why I’m even tolerated here. Unless it’s for comic relief.
2,963
posted on
09/30/2021 5:06:35 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Tax-chick
Is it time to have you oven recalibrated? Or just time for a new range?
Maybe the heating elephant is discombobulated.
2,964
posted on
09/30/2021 5:08:02 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: ArGee
Hey! It IS Friday Eve, isn’t it!! So happy Friday Eve!
Wow. One more Friday Even in this place and then I’m on the road!
2,965
posted on
09/30/2021 5:09:30 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Monkey Face
Yes, I’m sure it needs to be rebobulated, but it’s so expensive even to have it looked at, let alone fixed!
2,966
posted on
09/30/2021 5:09:47 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: Tax-chick; ArGee
It would seem that FR is the only site I can access without privacy warnings.
I just deleted the printer and its peripherals and nothing is working except FR!
I’ll let it rest for a bit and see what happens.
2,967
posted on
09/30/2021 5:30:44 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Tax-chick; ArGee
Well, it looks like the little laptop is alive. I’ll only need it for a little while each day, so I’m uninstalling some programs I don’t need. Taking. Forever.
2,968
posted on
09/30/2021 5:34:21 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Monkey Face; Tax-chick
I thought the Undead Thread WAS comic relief. If we need relief it’s serious relief, no?
2,969
posted on
09/30/2021 5:35:02 AM PDT
by
ArGee
(This is a tagline. This is only a tagline. Had it been a post, it would have been told to look up.)
To: Monkey Face
Two posts from two different laptops. If I can’t get the small one to let me into specific sites, I’ll have to take this larger, heavier one.
My bad. I probably should have gotten it out two weeks ago.
2,970
posted on
09/30/2021 5:36:22 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: ArGee
Yep. You’re right.
How do I bypass the Privacy warnings? “This site is not secure.”
2,971
posted on
09/30/2021 5:37:43 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: ArGee; Monkey Face
The intended victims of math worksheets have vanished. I guess I’ll go to Walmart (alone).
2,972
posted on
09/30/2021 5:37:53 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: Tax-chick
There’s a new experience: Going to Walmart alone! Think of how stress-free that will be!
2,973
posted on
09/30/2021 5:52:53 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Monkey Face
Browsers will be different. Which browser are you using?
2,974
posted on
09/30/2021 5:57:26 AM PDT
by
ArGee
(This is a tagline. This is only a tagline. Had it been a post, it would have been told to look up.)
To: ArGee
MS Edge.
I didn’t want to mess with it because the thing is so small.
2,975
posted on
09/30/2021 6:07:48 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: ArGee
It says I can’t access Yahoo mail because it uses “HSTS.”
2,976
posted on
09/30/2021 6:10:24 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~ Tomorrow is another day. And if it isn't, it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. ~ My Mother)
To: Tax-chick; Monkey Face
Good Morning!
I have fallen behind in posts, will try to get caught up, but also not be redundant!
2,977
posted on
09/30/2021 6:26:02 AM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
To: Monkey Face; ArGee; Tax-chick
Wow, seeing lows in the 40s and 50s is exciting!
Have to wait until Sunday into Monday for it to dry out again and see some overnight lows in the 50s...
2,978
posted on
09/30/2021 6:29:29 AM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
To: Monkey Face
2,979
posted on
09/30/2021 6:31:04 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: Tax-chick
Frank and Kathleen have Sunday School tonight, so I’ve just started making pizza for them. How come they call in "Sunday School" if one attends on a Wednesday evening?
2,980
posted on
09/30/2021 6:33:14 AM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 2,941-2,960, 2,961-2,980, 2,981-3,000 ... 5,461-5,468 next last
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.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson