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 ...
That is in LR?
I’ll see if my son has been there, or at the least what he’s heard, and on one of our trips to Hobby Lobby, we may have lunch there. It sounds good, anyway!
Thanks!
I’m overwhelmed by your diligence! It will be perfect in no time!
I will say getting in was tighter security than getting on a plane. But I think Bill was there the day I visited.
He lives on the 4th floor when he’s in town.
The public elevators only go to 3.
He lectures at the Univ of Arkansas school of public policy which is right next door.
They told me he has coeds up to study sessions all the time.
They probably won’t let me in then, because I’m not vaccinated and don’t intend to be.
That’s interesting about him, anyway.
I was never impressed with Bill Clinton, and as far as the coeds are concerned, they probably don’t realize what that what he’s doing is abusive and demeaning. I hope they don’t spend their lives looking for Names to sleep with.
I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem like you've got the concept of Wi-Fi. It's wireless so you don't have to have it in a specific place. You can put it in a closet.
My sister kept wanting me to visit her in south GA to go listen to President Carter teach Sunday School. She said you have to get there an hour early to get through the security but he was still sharp at 90 and worth listening to.
I never took her up on it. Maybe, just *maybe* if he still hammered nails at Habitat for Humanity I might sign up for a volunteer day to do that with him. But listen to him opine on Biblical topics? - no.
This is the router that needs the co-ax. The cable that’s on the unit is only about 20” long and that’s not even enough to reach to the top of the desk.
Yeah, I agree with you on that one.
Our router that needs the coax was on the floor behind a piece of furniture in our last apartment. It’s a wall-mounted thing here. Neither one went anywhere near a desk.
Well, actually, it doesn’t need to go on a desk, but the co-ax outlet is where I want the desk to be, so it’s either get a longer co-ax or kick the router. I’d rather not do the latter.
Tomorrow, with luck, I’ll find the box with the Roku and the Fire Stick in it and the next time FS comes to my apartment, I’ll be able to set up the TV and DVD player and start to watch some TV and movies.
Coming right along, then.
Maybe by tomorrow, the smoke smell will be well and truly out of the place. I probably won’t sleep there until Wednesday night.
I also need to go to Kroger to get some meat things. I don’t want to stay there until I can find some food...
I hope it’s getting better, at least. Wednesday is a long time away!
Yes, but I still need that shower curtain rod!
One more Tom Cruise movie to get through and then I’m done! LOL!
Then I’m OK with non-tsunami-causing underwater volcanic eruptions, thanks.
Morning floof says I need to be in my own place.
Did you sleep well, last night?
How is Elen, USMC, On Leave, doing?
I hope the ozone machine did its job once and for all yesterday. Just that little bit of time (well, three hours) in that place and my entire head is congested.
Once FS gets the shower curtain rod up, I’ll be able to stay there. I really need to make some progress in unpacking.
I slept six hours without waking last night. That is the longest since before I had to quit working. I’m sure it’s the beginning, but this is one time I can’t just sit and let CFIDS take it’s course. I’m going to have to push through this time and suffer the consequences later.
I’m going back over today, and try to make a bigger mess than yesterday!
Sleeping is good. I was okay, I think. Something about cats comes to mind. I wish I could send Tom (or Elen, USMC) to install your shower curtain rod. How hard can it be for someone who isn’t elderly, right?
Elen, USMC, was over yesterday, complained about the sanitary conditions at Tom’s house, then found we were boring, which, duh, that’s why she joined the Marine Corps. I suggested she take brothers for Driving Adventures, but she wimped out. I believer she and Tom are going hiking this afternoon. They invited me, but I have obligations involving the younger children.
I took Patrick for a little Adventure in the Altima, in case Elen decided to take student driver brothers out on a schedule conflicting with Pat’s work schedule. We practiced a little and then I had him drive to Walmart, park, un-park, and drive home, since that’s his “commute.”
It turned out to be unnecessary yesterday, but could be useful at other times, so it was worth it.
We have Town Council election today. I need to give DP and Patrick notes telling them whom to vote for.
Good morning. Happy Twosday.
It’s election day, which is a NYC holiday.
Good morning. I need to call my hairdresser when it gets to be a civilized hour.
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