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 ...
Inertia can often be overcome with pain.
w00t!
What??? Again? I just got home!
(Thanks!)
Indeed!
Rain, rain, rain. It is SO needed!
I had a Tele-med appointment, and the doctor agreed that one tablet three times a day taken at night works. He said if I need some help within the next year, that he’s available for Tele-med appointments, and can provide meds that are already on the books. Wow. Who knew? I still have to find a primary care doctor for that massively important pain clinic, but he also said that Gabapentin can be delivered.
After that, I bundled up in the warmest thing I had that wasn’t windproof because the wind wasn’t blowing. I grabbed one of my umbrellas and headed out into the rain. I stopped at the bank and changed my PIN because I couldn’t remember what it was, then headed for the library. (Which is across the street.)
I dropped off the last batch of DVDs and then asked if they had any for sale because I still have about 30 hours before FS arrives. They only had two and those were John Wayne collections. They wouldn’t let me pay for them. So I made a $5 donation to the library, anyway.
Then I went to Sinclair and bought a piece of chicken, two breaded mozzarella sticks and two breaded mushrooms, and that will be my lunch.
Walking home in the rain, the wind picked up. And me without a windproof jacket. Dang that was chilly! Unngh.
Fall has fallen.
90-something last weekend.
70s the past two days.
Won’t be above the high 60s today.
Betting Summer makes a last hurrah for a 5-day stretch sometime in the next two weeks, tho.
Then that last blast might, it we have the luck we’re due, get extinguished by the first real rain in a bazillion days.
It’s still hot here.
Cold. Wet. Still rainy. Gonna get colder and wetter! And I’ll trade it for cold wet AR.
*tagline*
“It’s still hot here.”
Wait three days; takes awhile to get across the country, but it’s comin’ sure.
I was waiting for James’ brother-in-law to bring something by here for us to take to AR, but I have no idea when he’s going to show up, and I didn’t even know about this until yesterday.
So a while ago, already tired from the last two days and lack of good sleep last night, I sent a text to James and asked him why didn’t the B-i-L just drop it off at Roy and Carol’s, since we would be staying there for two nights. No answer, yet, but I’m going to take my pills and head down the hall because I hate inconsiderate people.
Anyway, I mentally gave them a deadline, to either show up by 3:00 or text me by then, and if neither happens, I’m going to bed. Neither has. So I’ll take my pills, give them a few more (30) minutes and then I’ll disappear.
Oy, I hoped it worked out for you! Envirothon, choir, wine, Great British Baking Show.
Asuncion keeps telling me how young I look with this extra weight. She’s my best friend except you!
I hope your kayak is ready to go.
Thank you.
Looks like we got 0.13”. Met and exceeded expectations!
Ah—you must have worn your water wings—good to see that you survived!
That’s all I think about.
Have a great weekend, y’all.
Red Bull, it gives you wings...
Whatever floats your boat.
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