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See the 'Star of India,' decades after it was nabbed in a heist [NYC]
https://www.livescience.com ^
| JUNE 11, 2021
| By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer
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)
==================================================================
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 ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; History; Travel
KEYWORDS: allankuhn; aluminium; aluminiumoxide; aluminum; aluminumoxide; bluestarsapphire; chromium; corundum; godsgravesglyphs; heist; iron; jackmurphy; magnesium; murfthesurf; sapphire; srilanka; starofindia; startrekiv; titanium; undead; vanadium
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To: Monkey Face
3,601
posted on
10/21/2021 4:24:25 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: null and void
3,602
posted on
10/21/2021 4:24:52 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: ArGee; null and void
3,603
posted on
10/21/2021 4:25:57 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: Monkey Face
Thank you. I hope it’s a good day.
3,604
posted on
10/21/2021 4:47:22 AM PDT
by
ArGee
(This is a tagline. This is only a tagline. Had it been a post, it would have been told to look up.)
To: ArGee
No, but it progressed. The third music project is preparing an hour-long concert on October 30. By the end of the day today, I’ll have a draft of the song list. Additional suggestions were coming in over night!
3,605
posted on
10/21/2021 5:02:26 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: null and void
That’s hysterically, null and void!
3,606
posted on
10/21/2021 5:03:07 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: ArGee
It’s Thorsday here. I will do some stuff.
3,607
posted on
10/21/2021 5:03:31 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: Tax-chick
Only because it reflects a deeper truth...
3,608
posted on
10/21/2021 5:29:24 AM PDT
by
null and void
(LGBTQ = Let's Get Biden To Quit, FORK/N'A = First Uttery Cancel Kamala/Nancy Axed)
To: ArGee
Thanks. Me too.
I suppose, if I were philosophical, I would say the day is as good as I make it. I’m grateful for the wishes and I’ll keep them in mind. :o]
3,609
posted on
10/21/2021 5:52:48 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: Tax-chick
Wow. What a project!
Somehow, though, I sense that you thrive on challenges, so I have confidence in your abilities to get things done. ;o]
3,610
posted on
10/21/2021 5:54:23 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: null and void
3,611
posted on
10/21/2021 5:56:27 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: ArGee
If it were me it would entail “mertalyzing”. OK, I looked that up... no results!
3,612
posted on
10/21/2021 8:37:24 AM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
To: ArGee; All
w00t!
Happy Friday Eve to all!
3,613
posted on
10/21/2021 8:40:47 AM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
To: Monkey Face
It will get done, even though another round of suggestions came in this morning.
The upside of the additional input is that it involves Asuncion and Miss Norma, and the participation of Don Manuel, our really old guitarist Puerto Rican guitarist. One of our goals the last few months has been to get him out of hiding and involved in life again. He got very down during the pandemic.
3,614
posted on
10/21/2021 10:19:56 AM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
To: zzeeman
You won’t find it in a dictionary. I first came across the word in an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. I believe the quote was, “I’ll mertalyze da bum!”
It sounded like moitalize but I was assuming that was the accent.
3,615
posted on
10/21/2021 10:29:25 AM PDT
by
ArGee
(This is a tagline. This is only a tagline. Had it been a post, it would have been told to look up.)
To: ArGee
Ahh, I used to hear that as "I'll
murderize da bum!"
(With the accent that sounded like moitalize.)
3,616
posted on
10/21/2021 10:37:19 AM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
To: Tax-chick
I remember you telling me about him and his lack of interest in things. That can be dangerous in old folks. I hope you can convince him to become involved.
3,617
posted on
10/21/2021 11:11:40 AM PDT
by
Monkey Face
(~ Since thoughts precede deeds you must first learn to control your thoughts. ~ Russell M Nelson ~)
To: zzeeman
Well, I WAS just a kid. I thought it was making a little fun of the name Myrtle.
3,618
posted on
10/21/2021 11:35:24 AM PDT
by
ArGee
(This is a tagline. This is only a tagline. Had it been a post, it would have been told to look up.)
To: ArGee
I was a kid too, that didn’t even know anyone named Myrtle! LOL
3,619
posted on
10/21/2021 12:55:24 PM PDT
by
zzeeman
("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality." )
To: Monkey Face
Right now, it is planned that he will play several songs.
3,620
posted on
10/21/2021 1:36:50 PM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
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