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 ...
The clock on the Fitbit is wonky and has my sleep separated by “before midnight” (three hours 12 minutes) and “after midnight” (three hours 11 minutes.) I think it was more like seven plus hours but they weren’t good ones, and I was awake from 6:00 PM to 8:30, so the midnight division is bogus.
The shower felt so good! My achy joints are really loving showers these days!
Happy Hmpf day to you!
We have darkness.
We have clouds. I would like some rain.
W00t!!
Agreed!
Sunny days are almost always better than the alternatives!! Especially so after days of rain and clouds...
We had a powerful thunderstorm last night, and a lightning bolt hit not too far from here. I’m thinking it was a few blocks away in the cemetery, but the power went off for about five minutes. I was prepared, though! I have a “neck light.” A bendable thick cable that fits around the neck and has a light at both ends, with two degrees of brightness. I like it! Rechargeable, of course.
It rained almost all night, as well. The streets are still wet it areas. Of course it’s very dark here, now, with clouds and the fact that the sun isn’t quite ready to come up, yet.
I’ll take any kind of day, and although rainy days are difficult for me, I still manage to function at a low level. It IS functioning!! LOL! But every day is a good day!
That is certainly a good reminder... I am sometimes guilty of forgetting that simple fact!
I think, because I’m not a farmer, I forget what a miracle rain is.
That, and we don’t have a big mud room where we can just shed stuff and let it dry, so it’s annoying to come in from the rain.
I’m ready to go back to Eden where the dew watered the earth. But I guess it just isn’t time yet.
I’ve had a lot of really “bad” days, but I’ve tried to keep optimistic about it all. So I decided that there are no “bad” days. Just “different” days. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!
Maybe not yet, but I believe its closer than anyone thinks.
I don't believe we ever had a mud room, not growing up, and not in my adult life. If it was raining, we came in the back door, or shucked our wet things outside on the big porch before we came into the living room. These days, I have Charlie's Doormat outside the door, and a braided rag rug inside the door. They work!
What do you win if you’re right? ;)
Here’s why I like reading Michael Goodwin.
HEADLINE: NASA will launch November mission to deflect “devastating” asteroid from hitting Earth
The optimist says:
If the mission fails, global warming and higher taxes won’t be a problem.
Thirsty work! Moment harvest mouse takes a break from foraging to drink from a leaky garden tap
Well, if I’m right, (along with a bunch of other people) the good life we thought we were having will pale by comparison.
If I’m wrong, it won’t be for long, because socialism is not what America was intended for. It was founded by religious people who gave all glory to God for leading them to a place free of religious persecution. The Constitution was founded on religious rights and freedoms, and since these are in serious danger of being lost for good, my belief is that God won’t tolerate it for long. But, as the saying goes, it will get a lot worse before it gets better.
That’s my belief, anyway.
Awwww! What a sweet little critter! To quote an old cartoon, “I love dat mouse!”
Thanks! I needed that a lot, today! <3
;o]
Awwwww. Super cute!
FS just sent me a text asking if I was getting excited! LOL!
Then he said he is too. What a deal — a grown son getting excited his mom is moving closer! We’ll only be about a mile away from each other when the move is done. ;o]
Jefferson Starship: “We built this city.”
God: “I beg to differ.”
“So, they got one wrong ...”
No, see... what that means is you’re just in denial; deep down you know, but you won’t admit it, but it’s all good, ‘cuz it’s out in the open, now, and that’s a start.
Seems it gave you one, anyhow...
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