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 think I’m not making sense... Long day, some pain.
Oh, that’s very sad. I hope the surgery goes well and she has a successful recovery.
Good luck on the curtains!
Thanks for both wishes!
Since I headed out of town on the 12th of October, Sharon has been texting me every other day or so. I haven’t heard from her in almost two weeks, at which time she said she was in ICU with COVID and pneumonia. Nothing. For days.
I finally contacted one of the gals from the Ward back in Hurricane and she said that Sharon had also had a “blockage,” and had to have surgery, but had to have a second surgery to get the rest of it. She’s under sedation (I’m sure that means a medically-induced coma) until they can stabilize her. I can’t imagine the stress that Jerry is going through. Anyway, my Avon lady texted me, asking about Sharon, so I just forwarded the info to her.
All that stuff is scary, and I definitely don’t want to be anything more than a “spectator!”
I’m going to go unroll my “bed” and semi-get ready for the night. I absolutely MUST wash clothes tomorrow!
I hope you have a good night. Kathleen and I have Cub Scouts tonight, and Student Driver Vlad will take us there.
Best wishes to Sharon for a full recovery!
I’ll pass the word along.
I just got a text from FS, who says PW is out of surgery and he will be going to the recovery room to be with her. He said “all is well.” No details, but I’ll hear from him tomorrow.
Have a good night, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!
Thanks for the marmalade! <3
Off to do laundry a day late.
I’ll be back!! ;o]
Best wishes for the wash!
I’m back.
It just didn’t seem right to be in that little “clubhouse” with only one washer and one dryer working. I could have done it, but I didn’t want to take the time to wash a second load of clothes, not knowing how much room they would take when I hung them up.
I have to wash the sheets, but since I don’t have a bed, that’s not a priority. Yet.
There is no telling what today will bring. I didn’t sleep well, thanks to calls and text messages, but all that has done is slow me down.
Maybe I’ll get into some sort of routine, but it doesn’t seem like now is the time. :o|
Good morning. Happy Twosday!
I’m so sorry to hear about all the illness that we’re dealing with. It seems life just won’t slow down and let us enjoy it.
At least kitteh isn’t bothered.
Good morning.
I feel extremely fortunate to have missed the worst of whatever is going around (knock-on-wood) but then there is always that residual feeling of survivor guilt.
Yesterday, the office chair got put together and outside of the long walk to and from Walgreen’s, nothing of note got accomplished. Maybe today will be different. Or not.
I’m thinking about mopping the kitchen, but no guarantees.
“If you knew what I was thinking...”
Assuming this one posts, I will have been successful with two posts in a row, and a post for two days in a row!!
Happy Days are here again!!
Hoping that all under the weather, are feeling better soon!
I do not trust that kitteh, not one little bit.
And congratulations on your Interwebs success!
I downloaded the new Weight Watchers plan/app and successfully updated something or other. Maybe I’ll be a shadow of my current self by the time I take Monkey Face on vacation next year.
Monkey Face needs that vacation more than ever, thanks!
I’ve sat here for an hour and nothing has been accomplished but surfing the interwebs.
It would appear the day is a little on the overcast side. But that’s OK. So am I.
That is a real plus about having crumby Internet service... I get so many more things done!! lol
I’m going to find Kathleen and work on the Current Environmental Issues study guide. Yesterday, we learned about lithium mining. The next subject is biogas production using hog waste. North Carolina is the second-biggest hog-producing state, after Iowa.
If downloading an app could reduce weight I’d be skinnier than a rail.
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