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 ...
W00t!!
It was raining hard when I got up at 0600 (what a change!) but it seems to have stopped, now. It would appear that lots of neighbor folks are off to visit families, and I’m so happy for them. I can just imagine all the good things that will be going on. Past experience, of course, tells me how sweet it will all be.
I need to be sure and call my Real Brother today, to wish them well and tell them how much I feel their loss on this first holiday without their Firstborn Son. It hurts my heart to even think of their pain. I have so many memories of that man when he was a little guy.
Anyway, thank you for next year!! :o])
The menu from Tom the Cooking Son sounds very good. Especially the sweet potato casserole! I love them with bacon. I found a small can of sweet potatoes on an almost empty shelf yesterday, but whether I’ll cook it today remains to be seen. It depends on how I’ll be feeling.
It’s raining again. Which is OK. I guess we need it. It’s what keeps this area so green.
Good morning. It’s important to have rain, even if it gets us wet.
Frank has turned up and is eating some leftover goat cheese with cranberry from last night. On toast. I’m getting to work on more sweet potatoes.
I wish you were going to have a good meal with your family. Is there any chance they’ll bring you a plate?
No plates until tomorrow. They aren’t cooking today because the two boys will be at their Other Parent’s today.
I don’t know what time they will serve tomorrow but it will probably be late and I’ll have nightmares because my stomach isn’t used to such late hours.
I don’t mind the rain, if it wasn’t so painful. Still, I’ll try to get something done, even if it’s wrong. I took my one morphine about an hour ago, but it’s having a hard time working. Just too much pain for too long without real relief, and it’s beginning to tell. I’ll muddle through, though!
FD sent me a message on Bitmoji, so I guess she’ll be incensed for a while that I’m not having dinner with anyone. LOL! For someone who hated me, passionately, openly, and vociferously vocal for so many years, she is certainly making it known that she has changed her mind! :o])
Happy Thanksgiving, all. I hope your day is filled with blessings.
w00t!
I’ve never heard of sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole with bacon and pumpkin pies. It sounds kind of like a bakery turducken.
We weren’t supposed to get any rain until tonight, but I just took the pup for an extra walk (to see if she can be extra tired during the meal) and it started to freezing rain on us.
It shouldn’t go on for long.
Every day is a blessing, ArGee!
At my age I’m grateful for every day I have, as well as the amount of things I’m able to accomplish!
Will you be visiting your in-laws?
We may have sun this afternoon, but I’ve learned, in the short time I’ve been here, that the weather foregnosticators should find a line of work that agrees with them.
*tagline*
Thanks M-face, same to you and yours! I don't think I can pull off the graceful part.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And thank you for being part of my Journey through this Life.
FReegards...
Oh, p-shaw! You thanked me and that was graceful! ;o]
Funny how that works, isn’t it? We’re all in it together, even if it’s only for a short time. ;o]
I hope your day is great, DC, and that you get some quality time with your family.
Tom is all about trying new things.
I’m making “candied bacon” now. The instructions are in the bacon cookbook. At this rate, there won’t be much left to do when Tom gets here.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
Be sae, and watch for the crazies ;^)
I can’t believe I didn’t even get bacon yesterday when there was an entire refrigerated case of it staring at me. *sheesh*
Too late, now. Maybe tomorrow, I can talk my FS into taking me back to Kroger. No WAY I’m going to Walmart!
Maybe I need a bacon cookbook...
You too! I won't be leaving town, but the streets here are a little on the crazy side, being narrow and having no room to turn over ditches...
I’m getting close to the end. Tom and Elen have arrived. I set the smoke alarm off.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to all y’all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip5mHj13ssI
Happy Thanksgiving!
I signed off the kitchen shift, took a shower, and put on a dress. Tom is working on macaroni and cheese now, but his roux clumped up, and he has to start again.
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