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 ...
Yes, well, umm...you did say you were unemployed, as it were, and well, you were standing in the right place at the right time, so, well, I mean, no one else is qualified at the moment....
;o]
:e-vil laughter:
Thank you.
I have no idea what you’re talking about but yayyyy!!!!
You’re welcome. I forgot what we were talking about, too.
LOL!
You go, Girl! As my mother would say, “There’s no flies on you!” ;o]
(That’s a great tagline, by the way!)
Not to worry. That's not actually a requirement to joining the conversation.
In some cases it may actually be a detriment.
I'z a bat.
LOOK! Itz a BAT!
Good morning.
Do you have excursions planned for today?
I have a letter to write and more packing to do. The sooner I get packed the sooner I can move. I think.
There was discussion of the Botanical Garden the other night while we were waiting for the full moon to rise. It was foggy when I got up this morning, and it looks like Cloudy is the forecast, so we’ll see.
Every once in a while I run across photos I took at the Botanical Garden, and remember how much fun it was. That was a different me, though. NOT the same person at all!
It was probably a different me, too. Everything in life is change all the time.
I’m going to go do something useful now. Take my vitamins and my ankle pill, to start.
I went into the bathroom to wash my face off and ended up tossing a bunch of outdated makeup. Now I need new eye shadow for church, because I don’t wear makeup any other time. Anyway, it will have to wait for payday because what I have has to stretch to Walmart Tuesday. Unngh.
I didn’t realize I had kept so much that was old. But then, I haven’t found any new makeup that I like. It seems it’s all geared to younger women who actually want to paint their faces. I somehow don’t think that would look very nice on me..
My box fan is almost dead. It’s on high, I’m 8’ from it and I can’t feel the breeze.
Kevin sent me a text this morning. He either has a VW car show to go to or he’s getting a head start on a day of working on his new restoration project.
He said they’ve gotten their tickets to Rome for their European trip but can’t buy the return leg for 18 more days! Go figure!
I have old makeup, too. I have just started wearing lipstick to church again, now that I’m not going to have to put on a mask when I step away from my microphone.
We have some box fans in the garage. I’ve taken them away from various Young Persons who refused to turn them off when they left the room.
Even my lipstick is old but there are very few colors that actually work on me and these days, none of them would. I used to buy all my makeup through Avon, but they don’t have anything good any more, so there’s not much I buy from them.
Foot products and jewelry or a top if they’re on sale. They want too much otherwise.
I hated not being able to wear lipstick to church. I felt “unfinished.” But don’t get me started!
I wear the box fans out. They last about two years, maybe three, depending on where I live. I like them in the bedroom because they cover the outside noises. Like my neighbor and his live-in who sit out on his back stoop (right angle to my building) and let their dog yip and yell. However, the fan doesn’t always cover their noises.
Dogs. I’d hate them, but it isn’t their fault.
Truth! Chloe went after the mailman the other day. the leash wasn’t quite long enough, but she tried!
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