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 know it’s not as romantic as “Listen to your heart” but a lot less likely to get you in trouble.”
Your heart is smarter than your brain. Jus’ sayin’.
Good morning. It’s an almost pleasant 57° this morning, but probably because of the overcast. Nice walking weather, anyway!
W00t!
Good job!
Yes, I’m overjoyed that the bed is coming early!
When I get back from my errands this morning, I need to do some work in the bedroom closet to make room for the electrician and his ladder. Since both he and the maintenance man are coming on the same day, I’m going to be stuck at home. HAH! I’ve BEEN stuck at home since I started to unpack!
In the 30s here. I put my hiking boots on to warm my feet up.
I’m going to warm my feet up by walking to the little shopping area. I think I’ll by-pass Hallmark and get my cards at Kroger.
Later, all...
I walked on the treadmill for half an hour while finishing a library book. Maybe we’ll go on a Student Driver Adventure to the library next. I need to see whether I have any reserve books in.
I took pictures!
It’s not sunny out, but it is nice. However, on the way home, the wind picked up and it got a little chilly. But then, I realized when I got back that I was sweating. And at my age, too! LOL!
w00t!
Thanks!
I just called Charlie and wished him a happy birthday. He was very surprised. “It’s just another day.”
So another day when putting things away is becoming harder and harder. I need to make some serious plans to down-size. The problem is I don’t know where to start.
The closet is ready for the electrician and kitchen area is ready for the maintenance man. I’m hoping he comes first, because if it’s the light switch, the electrician will have to fix it.
Now it’s time for me to do something besides work. It seems I’ve been on the go since I got up at 0530, and days like this really wear me out. I can’t relax on the floor these days. My bones are too old.
Tomorrow would be another day. Yesterday was another day. Today isn’t another day.
That’s extremely philosophical, ArGee!
Perhaps today would have been another day if it was yesterday.
;oP
Yes, a day. I’ve made supper with a lot of cut-up things. It will be ready in half an hour or so. Shannon is trying to get Vlad to give her meat.
Yes, and it was certainly another day when it was tomorrow.
It’s a chameleon, that’s what it is.
Well, at your time of day, it’s almost tomorrow, anyway, isn’t it? I mean, in a work-day sense. Sorta?
Never mind.
It’s a cloudy day in Dogpatch, so my brems aren’t working properly.
I had a TV dinner for lunch and I wish I hadn’t.
Maybe I’ll have the next one for Second Breakfast.
I have lots of leftovers of pineapple chicken and butternut squash with apples.
Those sound absolutely delicious!
I think I ate my lunch because it was something I only had to heat up, not actually make, so it was “different.”
One of my neighbors invited me to join her for water aerobics. It’s on the Silver Sneakers program, but I no longer have a swim suit and no shorts.
I’d love to go but it will have to wait.
It would probably be fun for you. However, getting your apartment livable is important.
I went straight to bed after the Vlad Night Driving Adventure.
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