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 saw a photograph of fireflies in a forest in Japan, and they were very, very pretty!
Who knew?
Laundry day. I have to get up and at it. Then maybe pack something or organize more for packing. Maybe. If I don’t do something stupid like take another allergy pill.
That doesn’t look like Monday at my house! LOL!
Good morning.
The clothes are waiting to be hung up to dry, but I’m feeling a little weird this morning so I’ll wait a bit. Not too long because of the warmth, but a while.
I got a call from the kids last night, unexpected, but still, welcome. Maybe it will happen more often as I get closer to the move. My son’s diet has been working wonders for him. He’s done so well on it that he actually had a low-blood sugar episode. He woke up feeling strange, checked him blood sugar and it was 68. He is now not taking any of his diabetes drugs. I’m very happy about that! My biggest fear for a lot of years was that I would have to bury him, rather than the other way around.
For some reason, I woke up about 0115 and couldn’t see trying to sleep for that extra 45 minutes on wash day so I just got up.
*tagline*
Cute tagline. Congratulations to your son! I feel similarly about Tom. He just had to decide to make smart choices for himself, and then he succeeded.
Shannon is hanging around the kitchen hoping for more snacks. Jake is eating all the cat food, I think. Nobody else is up.
I went to bed early. I have a dentist appointment today at 11:00, which is your 9:00. Maybe I’ll have Vlad drive me there.
Thanks! I’ll pass on the felicitations to my son. This is something I didn’t think would ever happen because it seemed his wife was out to sabotage him when the were first married. I’m glad she’s changed her mind.
Murder Girl needs snacks to keep her wily mind active! Jake is overcompensating.
I went to bed early, too. I thought. I fell asleep at 1800. I’ll no doubt fall asleep early tonight, too, with tomorrow being Walmart day.
In other news, I’ve lost three pounds. Twelve to go. ;o]
Now I’m going to hang some clothes!
Congratulations to you, too!
I hope to get driving adventures done early, before I’m stressed by the dentist and fall over.
Thanks!
It was a hard three pounds to lose, but I’m on the downhill slide, now, so life is good, and my clothes don’t fit. I’m anxious now to go to a thrift store and see what I can find, but it will wait for Dogpatch. There are so many stores! When you come to visit, we’ll have to set aside a morning so we can browse some of them, even if we don’t buy anything!
I’ll be seeing a dentist in Dogpatch, as well, and get a whole new set of teeth. My mouth always hurts, thanks to CFIDS and Lexapro (when I was in TX.) I don’t envy you, but I understand the necessity.
If you fall over, make sure a bed and a cat are nearby!
Last time I looked, the cat was already there.
LOL!
The chimes were giving me music from yesterday afternoon to just about an hour ago, and I miss them. They’ve been quiet for a couple of months. :o[
Life can be exhausting.
Good morning. Happy Monday! It’s a little warmish in these parts, but we’re expecting a lot of rain later in the week which will cool things down.
Most definitely a 2 kitteh week.
Orange kitteh is in charge.
Best wishes for a lot of rain!
It is, at this moment, a happy Monday because the laundry is done!
We are in such dire need of rain, here. It’s raining everywhere but here.
How’s the puppy doing these days?
She’s OK. She’s gotten rather used to this new normal. What we really need now is a fenced-in back yard, but that’s not happening so we’re giving her as many ways to expend energy as we can think of.
How much does she weigh, now? Bigger dogs need lots of room!
I think she’s hit her max at around 55 lbs. There’s room to run around inside but she could use more.
That’s about the size I like!
We can’t have anything over 40 lbs. here. Still, that’s a good size dog.
In the post war development with AC s being uncommon in the twilight adults would bring out the new light weight folding picnic chairs to cool off with iced tea and beers and chat with neighbors while hordes of boomer kids would try and capture the slow cruising lighting bugs in cupped hands. There was a competition of sorts to see who could catch the most, putting them into glass jars. All released when it was time to go inside.
TCs reference to ephemeral ponds made me pause, trying to recall if I had ever seen such...nope. But the ephemeral magic of the ignis fatuus, Latin for ‘giddy flame’, plural ignes fatui applies. (I just cheated there, borrowing the will of the wisp name...seemed appropriate.)
;>)
LOL !
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