Skip to comments.
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
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 5,461-5,468 next last
To: HKMk23
I’ll go ya one better and introduce you to a God capable of having made everything you see and think you have experienced just seven seconds ago without leaving a wisp of a clue that it hadn’t all been here forever. Mymosh? Is that you???
41
posted on
06/16/2021 11:57:14 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: Monkey Face
42
posted on
06/16/2021 11:58:45 AM PDT
by
null and void
(When you put bad people in charge expect bad things to happen, often in a spectacular and sudden way)
To: null and void; NicknamedBob
Oh. Do you need a guide dog to help you? There are only three Habitats: Day Shift, Swing Shift and Graveyard Shift.
It’s Bob’s fault if you can’t find yours... ;o]
43
posted on
06/16/2021 12:12:14 PM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~~ Your value doesn't decrease based on someone else's inability to see your worth. ~~ )
To: Monkey Face
Is there a 24/7/365.241, or better, a
36-Hour Day Habitat?
44
posted on
06/16/2021 1:36:24 PM PDT
by
null and void
(When you put bad people in charge expect bad things to happen, often in a spectacular and sudden way)
To: Monkey Face
I’ll do the “official” move tomorrow.
45
posted on
06/16/2021 1:39:48 PM PDT
by
Darksheare
(Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same. )
To: null and void; NicknamedBob
Uh...they’re eight hour Habitats...Bob set it up when the Flying Castle was still flying and not in a stationary orbit. I haven’t the slightest clue how to change it... But if YOU do, GO for it! ;o]
46
posted on
06/16/2021 1:52:15 PM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~~ Your value doesn't decrease based on someone else's inability to see your worth. ~~ )
To: Darksheare
Hiya, Darks! Check your FReepmail! ;o]
47
posted on
06/16/2021 1:52:47 PM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~~ Your value doesn't decrease based on someone else's inability to see your worth. ~~ )
To: Dead Corpse; Monkey Face
Thank you all. I’ll bring Fluffy over here after I take a shower.
48
posted on
06/16/2021 1:59:52 PM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(I found that yelling at my screen did not effect the change I sought.)
To: ArGee
Mymosh was permanently exiled to Zotland
49
posted on
06/16/2021 2:02:17 PM PDT
by
HKMk23
(INADEQUACY: If this keeps up, we may not be able to let you help us anymore.)
To: Tax-chick
Oh! You made it! We need Fluffy to make it official!
50
posted on
06/16/2021 2:03:26 PM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~~ Your value doesn't decrease based on someone else's inability to see your worth. ~~ )
To: HKMk23; ArGee
ROTFL!
There’s always one...
51
posted on
06/16/2021 2:05:25 PM PDT
by
Monkey Face
( ~~ Your value doesn't decrease based on someone else's inability to see your worth. ~~ )
To: Swordmaker
That belongs on a sword.
Get busy.
L
52
posted on
06/16/2021 2:07:50 PM PDT
by
Lurker
(Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
To: Monkey Face
Where da fishies?
53
posted on
06/16/2021 2:25:28 PM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(I found that yelling at my screen did not effect the change I sought.)
To: Monkey Face
I’m happy I’m here, too.
A haven of sanity amid a world gone mad.
54
posted on
06/16/2021 3:08:42 PM PDT
by
HKMk23
(INADEQUACY: If this keeps up, we may not be able to let you help us anymore.)
To: Dead Corpse; Swordmaker
Shift knob for an otherwise all original 427 Shelby Cobra.
55
posted on
06/16/2021 3:16:58 PM PDT
by
HKMk23
(INADEQUACY: If this keeps up, we may not be able to let you help us anymore.)
To: Monkey Face
Day shift
Swing shift
Graveyard shift
This ship’s got no room for the shiftless.
56
posted on
06/16/2021 3:21:24 PM PDT
by
HKMk23
(INADEQUACY: If this keeps up, we may not be able to let you help us anymore.)
To: HKMk23; Monkey Face; Darksheare; ArGee
That’s right. Everyone has to work or at least look cute or tell jokes.
57
posted on
06/16/2021 4:41:40 PM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(I found that yelling at my screen did not effect the change I sought.)
To: Tax-chick; HKMk23; Monkey Face; ArGee
Beware of M̸̼͔͙̓͆̀ö̵͇̝̽̓̀t̴̝͖͇͋̽́h̵̻͓̺͒͝͝
58
posted on
06/16/2021 5:06:24 PM PDT
by
Darksheare
(Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same. )
To: Darksheare
59
posted on
06/16/2021 5:08:34 PM PDT
by
Tax-chick
(I found that yelling at my screen did not effect the change I sought.)
To: HKMk23
5700 or 143 billion... It was all before my time and does not effect my existence one iota.
I believe what I believe. That should be good enough...
60
posted on
06/16/2021 8:03:55 PM PDT
by
Dead Corpse
(A Psalm in napalm...)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 5,461-5,468 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson