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 ...
W00t!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfiSaBxGB9E
He’d been hearing a little girl singing ever since the dust up at that weird station with the rabbits.
He’d had body detail, placing the dead into cryo for transport.
Naturally one would get blood on their hands during this necessary but grim work.
But it had been months, and his hands itched where the blod had touched his skin.
He also could still see the blood no matter how often he washed his hands.
He had gone to medical but the doc had laughed him off with comments about his masculinity.
His head snapped around to look at the source of the movement his eyes said was over “there”.
He saw a figure he knew couldn’t possibly be there playing with a doll.
Their eyes met briefly, she stood up and skipped away as he loudly protested her presence.
W000t!
Atmospheric, Darks! Glad to see you writing!
Excellent!
It’s been a while since you posted anything for us to read, and that was quite enjoyable! Thanks!
Good morning. Happy Twosday! It’s rainy and chilly again.
We actually got some sun yesterday, but I don’t think it’s in the forecast today.
No, not the rabbits!
Good morning. It’s 65 degrees here in my dining room. I’m thinking about having a hot shower.
We just lived through the rainiest October on record yesterday...
I can’t remember being so cold for so long as I have since I’ve been here.
I try to get outside after noon, when it begins to warm up a little, but it’s not always that much warmer outside.
Unngh.
“Shocked!”
Looking forward to this being the last "warm and humid" day for some time... supposed to be cloudy all day with rain at night into tomorrow morning... then they promise a string of mid 70s for highs and upper 40s for lows... and most importantly: DRY!!
The sun is shining here. Jake, the great warrior, has gone back to bed. His quite disgusting injury seems to be healing. I’ll email a photo to the vet tomorrow afternoon to see if thinks it needs to be sutured, but as of now, I expect he’ll say to leave it.
More Spanish music projects today, Student Driver Adventures, and Kathleen wants a haircut.
How did he get injured again?
We are assuming it was a bite received in a fight with another cat. He often stays out all night.
Oh, one of those... ugh
Yeah, ugh. He got an antibiotic shot.
Jake is so manly. He’s probably pretty proud of his Warrior status. Showing off to all the Grils, bragging to the other Guys.
Driving Adventures are what I’ll be having in the not too distant future. The streets here are not laid out like they are out west, so it will take some getting used to to navigate in this town.
I want a haircut, too, but it will have to wait until I get a vehicle.
He really wanted to go out last night at bedtime, as if he had plans!
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