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)
==================================================================
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 rented it at Amazon. I think it was $1 cheaper at YouTube, but I wasn’t set up to rent movies there and didn’t want to give them credit card info last night so I spent the $1.
Ah. OK. I’ll have to get the Fire Stick set up, then, and make sure I write the name of the movie down so I don’t forget. Some days, I feel like Mr Butterburr.
Nice view!
They got some of the best lines.
Twosday again, for some reason I keep sleeping through Onesday each week...
We have a bit of that thermometer whiplash going too, 36 degrees this morning, high of 80 forecast for Friday.
Movie sounds interesting, where was it found?
Hahaha, good one!
That one is good.
Indeed!
Exactly why I liked them, even as a very short person!
I just wish I could sleep!
Seems to be cold all over, Z. My living room warms up a little when the sun is out, but on cloudy/rainy days, the cold is hard to penetrate.
It's clear today, but cold with a brisk wind and my walk to the UPS Store was fast!
Good morning!
I will take a cold sunny days (even with a nice wind) over those “blah” days where it is rainy, dreary, humid, and cloudy; and the temperature is such that you don’t really want heat nor AC running...
I had the heater on as much to dry the place out as for warmth.
Of course, this summer is going to be a renewal of experiences for me — fourth time in the Midwest: SoDak, MO, TX and now AR. I’m glad I moved when I did and not in June! I’ll have to get used to air I can drink and water I can’t!
I finally got my Christmas present today! My son called me this morning and said he’d been negotiating with a woman about a vehicle, and said it sounded good and he thought I should buy it.
I went to look at it with him (he’d already looked at yesterday) and said whatever work needed to be done on it, he could do it because they had owned the same model. So I called AAA and had them tow it from where it was to my FS’s house, and it’s in his front yard.
I don’t know when he’ll have time to work on it because he’s doing remodeling on a dental lab this week. Maybe after Christmas!
Anyway, I’ll still be “luggage” for a while, yet!
I got the kitchen and dining room cleaned and things rearranged so we had room for the Christmas tree, and Tom set up the tree, but now DP and James have taken it apart again. Who knows.
Oi!
What in the world is wrong with Tom’s ability to set it up by himself? Didn’t meet with the approval of the CEO, I guess. And the opposite sex thinks WE’RE hard to figure out?
FS is happy that the car is in front of his house! I’m sure when I finally turn the key in the ignition, and head for home, he will have cleaned it as well as done any and all repairs. (Which I’ll have to pay for!) But still, it’s all good. He’ll have something to keep him “busy” besides work. His hobby is putting things together, so this is good!
That is wonderfully exciting!
Some of the lights weren’t working. (We’ve had this tree for several years.) DP went to the hardware store for more lights, I’m told, while I was having some personal time with Jake. Depending on prices, he may come home with a new tree. Meanwhile, James is fluffing the fronds.
Tom is supposed to come back at dark for Night Driving Adventures.
It’s not so bad breathing and drinking at the same time. Of course, the fact that the sweat has no place to evaporate to ...
You're talking about the humidity as well as gnats and mosquitos, right? ;o]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.