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 ...
I’ll try to nap for you, then.
Now I’m going to back to work on turning all the random stuff in the refrigerator into something that might be usable for meals.
Please, do nap for me! At least until I get to the point where I can do it myself.
I’m going to grab something from the freezer and I’ll eat it two evenings in a row. I’m not going to cook here, thanks. I’d rather forage for now.
Wait ... does that work? Because I'm sure there's a market and I think I could set up a booming business of surrogate nappers.
Check you FReepmail for the answer to that!
I’ve got things better organized now. It’s going to be a very busy week.
I wish this one was busy with unpacking. This lull is not good for me.
But I’ll get through it!
Now, I’m going to have something to eat, then work on my scriptures for a bit and then go to bed. Tomorrow, I’ll move most of my stuff into the VW Room in preparation for Wednesday night’s arrival of the Other Folks. Then I don’t have to worry about disturbing her while she’s working. “It’s only temporary.”
A little slip up like that is permissible.... from time to time!
I was out here (Davis Mountains) for a few days...
and got beyond the end of the Internet...
Hoping all is well, with all!
Nice. I was there with my father once.
Sounds like a fun trip. Welcome back.
Good morning. Happy Twosday!
We still have cold.
Kitteh looks like I feel.
Good morning, all.
Did you sleep well, T-c?
Beautiful scenery, zzeeman!
Yeah, it’s cold here, too, ArGee. It’s 44° out, and not all that warm in.
James came by to “check on” me last night, and he and Abbie will come by tonight and have pizza. I don’t know what they will want to do then.
Favorite Son has gotten the truck, but the tires were bald. He had the dealership replace them before he drove it six hundred miles.
They will be enjoying the Kings game tonight in Nashville.
Good morning. I slept pretty well, thanks, until my alarm went off. I have a late church meeting tonight, so I may have to stay up past 9:00! Unnngh!
I hope you enjoy a visit from James and Abbie. Maybe they’d like to play canasta or a watch a nature video.
No cards in this house. I want to get “Aggravation” because I think it would be a lot of fun with all these peeps around. If I got a board for six, it would be perfect!
We’ll probably watch a movie after the pizza.
I recall playing Aggravation as a child, but I don’t think we had it at home.
We always had a board. In fact, when we were stationed in Germany, we couldn’t find it at the BX, so I wrote to a friend Stateside and asked if she could send a game to me. I think it was all of $3. Now, they’re made of wood and cost around $60. I think it would be a good investment.
So I want to get a game.
Back from the dentist and the library. I think there will be a nap between now and Kathleen’s riding lesson. She has two this week because a previous one was called off.
I could go somewhere in FS’s restored VW, but I’m too unsure of myself right now. I’m not in a good place to be driving his pride and joy!
So I’m going back in to watch more on Curiosity.
I don’t think I’ve played Aggravation.
I have, however, had children.
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