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 ...
Not bad, thanks. We had a power flicker at some point last night, so my clock was off, but the cats let me know when it was time to get up.
Looks like it’s going to be a fairly nice day. My first thing is a James Driving Adventure to the library, leaving in about 15 minutes.
Yeah.
The police department in Henderson (before I moved there) had a bond they wanted passed for more funding for more officers, (fire, EMT, police) and the snobbery of the city turned it down. (The snobbery who lived in “Green Valley” as opposed to those who lived in Henderson were all well-to-do newcomers.) The Chief got on TV as soon as all the votes were verified and said that until they got the necessary funding, they would be screening ALL “emergencies” and will use their own discretion as to what, exactly, constituted an emergency.
The next time the bond was up for a vote, it passed with flying colors.
The VIPs weren’t nearly as VIP as they thought.
But that was when old loyalties excluded newcomers.
*whew*
The bedroom is almost ready for me to put the rails on the head & footboards. In the meantime, I found the bathroom scales and couldn’t resist the temptation. Fully dressed, I’m within five pounds of my goal weight!
The stereo is out of the box for the first time in forever, and if I can find a spot for it in here, I will set it up in the near future.
I had enough presence of mind to put the instruction booklet, the remote and the .45 adapter in a plastic bag and tape it to the side of the stereo, so that’s one less worry! The other remotes I brought with me. Clever girl!
Meanwhile, it’s time for a break. The letter to Charlie is in the Outgoing Mail drop, with apologies. I can walk to Hallmark store tomorrow and find a card for him, but it will be at least a week before I can get to Walmart to get him a gift card. He doesn’t go anywhere but to the bank and Walmart so there’s no sense buying him a card for any place besides Wally’s.
PS: I had to clean the pre-filter in the HEPA filter in the bedroom because of the lint and dog hair. Why do I always have to rent an apartment behind a DOG owner?? GAH!! The “carpet” was only slightly shampooed because the thing is a mess and needs to be replaced.
However, as soon as I find the two nuts that fell out of the bedrail box, I can order the bed. I have to shift the dresser a bit and move the shelf I have in there, but once I get the bed in place, I might be able to wake up in a cheerful mood.
Right now, I’m taking a slight break, then will go in with the carpet sweeper and see what I can scoop up, then I’ll move my bedroll into place for tonight and hope I don’t make the whole thing come crashing down on me when I get up in the middle of the night.
Stereo in my day: Tuner, turntable, cassette deck, pre-amp, amp, speakers.
Stereo now: Bluetooth speaker(s) for the phone.
Oh, and cables. Lots of cables in my day. None today.
What a busy morning you’ve had! I had a phone call with Steve, my spiritual co-seeker, and now I’m having lunch, and then we’ll go to Envirothon.
Well, this has a turntable, and I’m the proud owner of a Woodstock album, as well as one of Oldies I picked up on my first trip to Walmart here. I have several other albums, so when everything is in place, I can play like I’m in my 203040s. ;o]
I could get a sound bar, but...
I’ve gotten out of the habit of listening to the stereo in a car because the last two I had, the stereos were defunct. Maybe the next one will be better! (I’m looking to buy another Tracker, just because of the area. There are quite a few, newer than the one I had, so maybe the stereo works...)
I just finished sorting my pills and my back says it’s done for the day. I need a break while the phone is charging and then I’ll go see about moving the bedroll. It will have to be done piece by piece, because I can’t lift it as it is. I just don’t have the upper body strength I had even 10 years ago.
Good luck on the Envirothon! Is that an all-afternoon deal?
1:45 to 3:30. Maybe we can stop at Walmart on the way home. We’re out of diet cola!
I keep thinking I need to get up and try to get something else done but the thought doesn’t seem to translate into action very easily. I can’t figure that out, for some reason.
FS may come over sometime before Sunday, though he won’t stay. I just need a longer tape measure than I have and about five minutes of his time.
Now I’m going to take some pills and make a sandwich and pretend I have nothing pressing to do.
Car shop stuff... MUCH more fun when it’s been planned.
I’ve been preoccupied fending off State and Federal medical things ostensibly foisted upon my family “for our own good,” so I’ve turned my Profile into a repository for related things.
https://freerepublic.com/~hkmk23/
I sleep well because “The Backstop” is actual, literal Hell; if we don’t beat ‘em here, they’ve escaped NOTHING.
I am enjoying Egg Nog Season, this year.
Not the stuff in the dairy case, mind you.
I get the, uh, “fortified” version; use it in my evening coffee.
SPLENDID!
Ohs Nos! How doz one livez witout diet colaz?
Fortified egg nog sounds like an excellent addition to a cup of coffee - although coffee doesn’t really need anything extra added.
My goodness, that’s a lot to soak up. Thanks for that, and may I say, I cannot justify one single case of forcible vaxing just because another strain of flu is going around that may or may not be more deadly than the last, depending upon one’s immune system.
I’m going to resist as long as I can on the basis of the HIPPA laws and as with any disability which no one can ask about, I’ll claim immunity from interrogation.
Don’t know if it will play in Boston, but I don’t live there, so maybe...
Afternoon, all. Back from science, where I found a crawly green friend about the size of my thumbnail with something like a feathered skirt. Sally said Google Image ID said it was milk thistle, but milk thistle doesn’t not have a mouth and doesn’t crawl.
It’s a Crowned Slug Caterpillar. Has stinging spines. It will turn into a Crowned Slug Moth, which is small and brown.
You’re right. Milk thistle does NOT have a mouth and definitely doesn’t crawl!
What the heck.
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