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 ...
James sent me a text just about the time I was falling asleep, saying he was excited to have me close and also he wanted me to see their new house. What a kid! But Unngh.
I’ve decided, when the first three months of this Fitbit study are over with, I’ll keep it, just to sleep in. It’s been beneficial to tracking my sleep patterns, and I think with a little consideration, I can build a chart to track the sleep compared to what happens during the day. Well, it makes sense in my head, but probably means nothing to anyone else. I want my watch back!!
I’m going to go down to Casey’s before I go to Walgreen’s and thank him for the work he’s done on the Tracker. He’s been very good to me in allowing me to make payments, and if I were going to stay here, he would have let me make payments on the valve job. This town has some of the best people I’ve ever known in it!
So the morning will be full but the afternoon will be short.
I miss fog, actually! I grew up by a very large lake and we used to get fog a lot in the winter.
So if you send some by DarksFAX, send some to me, please!
Boy, ain't that the truth!!
I’m boiling chicken to make chicken salad.
Yes, rain is important... we had enough this summer so that I can be a bit picky about it now... though it has actually tapered off in the past few weeks that we have our first burn ban of the season...
Sounds like a good point of view to me!
That is fantastic, on both counts!
Hoping this day is pleasant and fruitful for all!
Back from my last run to Walmart. Here. This Walmart.
Someone, please remind me how to roll clothes for the footlocker/seabag?
I need to write a thank you note for Casey, but right now, I’m going to take my pills and have Second Breakfast.
Good morning. Children are swarming about. They must think it’s time for a meal. You’d think I would get cats, since I was boiling chicken, but no.
The mutant fog oozed through the transmission stream, unconcerned with the fact that it should be impossible to do so.
with pants it is just like they are hanging on the hanger (or folded in half across the center), and rolled up...
the best way to pack!!
Maybe boil some fish to get the cats’ interest?
Thanks!
I normally just use Space Bags, and have, since my trip to Pakistan in 2004. But I thought I’d try something different this time and roll them up before I put them in the Space Bags.
I’ll see how both ways work. I have a few hours to practice!
Back from the errands.
Casey wasn’t in, so I just left the “thank you” card with his second, then went on to the Sinclair station to say goodbye to the gal who runs the place and saw Sharon while I was there. I still had time to kill before Walgreen’s pharmacy opened, so we talked for a minute and then I realized I had left my phone home!
Anyway, I got to Walgreen’s and waited, and the pharmacist took the prescription, then came to find me in the store because they’ve been out of Immediate Release morphine for a month and can’t seem to get any.
So I went to Lin’s. The gals in Lin’s know how I love Idaho Spud bars, and met me at the door to ask if that’s what I was there for. I said yes, as soon as I went to the pharmacy. I came back from the pharmacy and one of the gals, Kathy, had two boxes of Idaho Spuds 25 bars in all!
It’s so bittersweet to say goodbye!
Well, that explains why everything has an orange hue.
Idaho Spuds bars are bittersweet?
Just remember Goodbye never lasts forever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnMkKv1dtQw
The mutant fog did it again. Dang!
Idaho Spuds are the best candy bars ever!!
I only had to say goodbye to Charlie when I left Henderson, but so many people have been so nice to me since I moved here. Not to mention the spectacular scenery I’ll be leaving behind.
So leaving here will be bittersweet. Sweet because I’ll be with my son and his family, but bitter because of those whom I’ve grown to love.
Welp, Ganag, the BB SUV has gone on to live another life.
It’s been an emotional day, for a lot of reasons, but this is a good thing. Now I’m wired, so I’ll be around for a while!
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