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’m going to wait a bit and see what I can do in the way of shifting things around, and then I’ll walk to Kroger and Walgreens, the latter being about a half mile from here.
When I get back, I’ll probably unpack more stuff. I need to get more mini-crates for sure. A dozen of them got used up in a flash.
On the agenda for today is a call to a doctor’s office for a referral. I need to get the printer set up as well so I can print out pertinent medical info.
We had a couple of mornings in the high 30s a few days ago, warmed back up a bit of late... beautiful weather, could have this for 10 months a year and be happy...
I’d be happy to have my head in boxes. NYC Public Housing is not the example for the rest of the country, despite spending massive amounts of money on it.
Sounds like you’ll be very industrious and accomplish things.
I really wanted Plan A. I’m considering Plan C, go to bed and cry with a stuffed animal.
Plan C has been at the almost top of my list since October 1th. It is still there, but now, it’s in bold letters.
My health insurance has been cancelled. Go figger.
That’s weird. I thought you just signed up for a new plan.
Unnngh.
I cleaned the stove.
This is the old insurance which was supposed to have been good until the end of the year. So here I sit.
The walk was tiring, more so than I expected, but it will get easier with time. I hope.
Now I will watch something on Roku while I try to assemble the office chair and then the under-sink drawer.
I just got a text from FS that PW has a “hot appendix” and is at North Little Rock Baptist Hospital. FS is concerned but I know she’ll be OK.
Wishing a prompt recovery to your daughter-in-law.
Can you call them and find out why it wasn’t good until the end of the year? If you paid the premium, they owe you the coverage.
On this plan, I paid no premium. But it still should have been in effect until Dec 31.
Well, phooey.
Thanks. I haven’t heard from FS, but he won’t text (or call) until there is something to tell.
In the meantime, the office chair has been put together! Yay, me!
I may or may not unpack something else, but I think I’ll do one box. I have my eye on the cookware box, so that will make a little more room in here. I hope.
Sometimes insurance plans are only good in the state for which they’re issued.
Yay, you! I’ve reached Naptime. Yay, me!
Yes, I learned that when I moved from Henderson to Hurricane.
But it should still be in force to the end of the year, until I apply for coverage for 2022.
It will work out. Just not as quickly as I would like.
Yay, you! Naps with a cat are always good.
I haven’t found my stuffed animal, yet, so I still have to settle for naps sans critters.
The bed rails should be here today. I will rearrange things in the bedroom tomorrow and then decide when to order the mattress and box spring.
My little excursion this morning may allow me to sleep well tonight. I hope. The Fitbit beeber says I’ve walked over a mile. By the end of the day, that may be a mile and a half. It was hard for me to believe, but coming home was uphill, so there was a little more exertion involved than I originally expected.
I’m glad you made it! Jake missed the nap. Maybe he’s in the sunroom.
I saw gas for $2.97 when Vlad and I went to Walmart this morning. I’m thinking of going to fill up the van.
Gas is now over $3.00 here, but I won’t worry about it, just yet. I’m not in the mood to buy a vehicle. Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll change my mind, but for now, I’m OK. The only thing I really need at the moment that I can’t get without transportation is a haircut.
If I had a bed, I think I’d go to bed early, but I don’t, yet. So I won’t.
No news on PW, but I’m sure everything will be fine.
Turns out it was $2.93.
“Hot appendix “ sounds like something you’d treat with antibiotics.
$3.49 here.
Ugh.
Fortunately, we don’t drive much.
They at first thought it was a “blockage” but she has been in so much pain for so long that I’m guessing “further testing” showed something more sinister.
Last report says she was headed for surgery about 90 minutes ago, so I probably won’t have more news until morning.
She had been on a regimen of antibiotics last week, but today, she went to ER and was then taken to NLR by ambulance. I don’t know if it was four-wheeled or air, but it has been a stressful day for FS.
In other news, I need to find my curtains! I really don’t like the unfiltered light coming in. It’s too bright for my light-sensitive eyes. I also want to hang some in the bedroom, but since it’s facing N, I don’t need the blackout curtains I had in Hurricane.
I also may have to adjust my long rag rug for the kitchen. It’s too long for the space, but I need it. It was perfect for my galley kitchen in Henderson, but has been rolled up since I moved to Hurricane. I will have to “play” with it.
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