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 ...
Having a vehicle of your own will certainly make a big difference, hope that it comes soon!!
Excellent null...
Trying out a new tagline...
Every era has its characteristic convolutions.
I went to Walmart in the pouring rain. We really need the rain! Next, we’ll go to church in the pouring rain.
Or maybe?
Unvaccinated=control group, vaccinated=controlled group...
My vote is this one!
I mean, THIS: Unvaccinated=control group, vaccinated=controlled group...
I’m back, finally.
Now I have a sinus headache. I’ve had a lot of them since I moved here, so I’m thinking it’s my “new norm.” I seldom got them in drier climates, but here... well, every time there’s a nice day after a string of rainy ones, I’ll get a sinus headache.
Not looking forward to tomorrow morning. The fast is going to make me wish I had never been born...hypoglycemia stinks. It’s going to be worse because it’s laundry day, and I’ll already have put in a day’s worth of chores before I ever even head to the doctor’s office.
controlled
-or-
controlLED
?
I think the latter is more fitting with your personality, Nully! It makes more sense, too!
Done!
Excellent!
Well done, Nully! :o])
Oy. It rained all day here. Now the rain has stopped, and it’s turning cold. DP disappeared with Tom while I was napping with Jake. Sally and Kathleen are making a Midsomer Murders gingerbread cottage.
That must be the rain we had the last two days.
It’s very cold today with a wind that I don’t like. The sun is out, but it’s not warming at all.
The clothes are sorted for tomorrow morning, and because I’m a little apprehensive about the lab work (sugar numbers, actually) I’m going to finish off the roast I cooked. It was so yummy! It’s been a very long time since I had a roast and I had forgotten how really tasty they can be.
I’ll take my BP again before I go to bed, and hopefully, numbers will be down again. The roast will get me through the busiest part of the day, and then after the lab work, FS has promised a trip to Sonic. Good, because I would eat all the wrong things if I came home, trying to get that sugar back up.
Right now, I’m spending some time watching “Death In Paradise.” I suppose a Midsomer Murders gingerbread cottage could be intriguing. Will they be using Lego men for the victims?
(Which reminds me: Did you ever finish Diagon Alley?)
I have made some progress on Diagon Alley, with help from James and Vlad. When it’s sunny in the bedroom, I’ll take some pictures.
No Lego men, just mysterious humps in the snow surrounding the cottage, as if there was a bloodbath followed by a snowstorm, as is common in Midsomer.
Sounds like a plan. I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow.
Thanks! If I begin to stress the BP will go up and I don’t want that, so I’m not going to stress. My numbers are coming down and I want them to stay down.
I got a boost to the old ego after church this morning. One of the men stopped, asked how I was feeling and said I looked “like a million bucks.” That’s pretty good currency and should keep me going for a few days! :o]
The Midsomer Cottage sounds fun! Be sure to send pics!
Who left this here?
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