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 ...
Howya from Monroe Stormwater. The students are getting antsy. I hope they can get in the creek soon.
Friday’s child is loving and giving...
May I ask, what is the Monroe Stormwater?
Are things improving at the Monroe Stormwater? I gave up on doing anything today, if I expect to do anything tomorrow.
This is Conference Weekend, so I don’t need to worry about what to wear to church. I have next Sunday’s all set out, and when that’s done, FS and I will come back here and finish up the last of what has to be done and then head for St George for the night.
It’s hard to believe it’s almost done!
LOL! My daughter’s birthday often falls on Friday the 13th, but I’d have to check a calendar to see what day that was. I wasn’t there. ;o] (I don’t think it was a Friday, if we’re going by the adage...)
It’s the government agency in the county seat that’s responsible for drainage and environmental water quality.
The sun came out, and it got warm.
The sun is out here, too, but it’s chilly. Although some folks might look forward to it — 69°. I’ve noticed that there is a wider range in temperatures here than there is in Dogpatch, so I’ll have to get used to feeling muggy all the time. Hot and wet or cold and wet. ;o]
It’s 81 in the house now. DP will need to turn the air conditioner on.
It’s 69° in here, too, and the only thing that keeps me from freezing is that there’s no wind in here.
I’ve gathered up more things and put them in a central spot so they can be packed, and hope I have the right sized boxes for everything that’s left. It’s going to be interesting!
Tomorrow will really show how much still has to be done. In the meantime, I’m getting very tired, and I don’t want to be! LOL!
In the last twelve hours, I’ve gotten two calls from outside the US of A. One was from Czechoslovakia and I’m not sure where the other one was from but they were both 13 digits, including the “1+” ahead of the number. The one I couldn’t find was a threatening, “push #1 or I’ll start legal proceedings,” on the voice mail. Where do these people come from??? (And don’t say, “Czechoslovakia!”)
I promise you I plan to stick around for
Some woman put up a series of YouTube videos called Adult Wednesday Addams. Some are kind of funny. They’re all pretty short.
There’s one where she’s some assistant to some producer and some women walk in like they own the place. She puts them in their place in a way I’d love to see IRL.
Clever! And funny! :o])
But I don't even realize when they roll around now, since I very rarely know what the date of each day is...
Superstitions are fun. If one takes them too seriously, one can develop some real phobias. So I prefer to treat them as something someone said in jest centuries ago and carry on with my life. Since my daughter was born on the 13th, I suspect I’d be in real trouble if I actually believed the myth!
What part of Texas did you say you were from? You don’t have to give an exact city, just the general area. I’m just curious, and if you don’t want to answer, just say so and I’ll be fine with that!
Unnngh. I would like a good night’s sleep and a cooler day tomorrow, please.
I’d be more than happy to supply you with both if it were within my power to do so!
The TV has been out of service more than it has been in this week, so it’s probably a good thing I’m leaving.
I suspect when I get to Dogpatch, I’ll only have a cable company for internet, because I’m not about to sign up for a satellite service. I have the Roku and the Amazon Fire, so if I sign up for a streaming service that provides British Murder Mysteries, I’ll be a happy little person!
And now, I’m going to head down the hall because I was up earlier today than I wanted to be, just so I could squeeze everything in.
I hope you sleep well and that you don’t have caustic cat slobber on you during the night!
Have a good night!
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