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 ...
It sounds as though the holiday was more than satisfying. It’s great that you had such a good time with your family and that there was enough Martinelli’s to last!
I suspect there is nothing Ho-Hum about your Ho-Ho-Ho’s!
;o]
Regards to your family!
Marmalades for brekkity are always welcome!
Good morning.
Did you sleep well?
I have no idea what I’ll do today. I suspect everything will now be on hold until next Wednesday. Which is OK, because I can get a lot done on Thursday!
The tool that FS needed came last night, so while he has daylight after he gets off work, he’ll play with his new toys and show me the progress in text messages. Now I’m getting excited and wish I could be there to hand him tools and ask him questions.
Maybe I’ll do that filing/shredding thing today. I mean, it’s not a fun job, but someone has to do it.
:o|
Good morning. Not a very good night, between Jake and the other person. I will, nonetheless, try to stay awake until dark.
I’m glad the auto rebuild will be getting underway for you. And good luck with the shredding!
Good morning. Happy Twosday.
Kitteh seems surprised that Christmas is already over. Doesn’t worry, kitteh. It lasts 12 days.
My pastor said January 9 is the first day of the new liturgical season this year. Whether we’ll leave the Christmas tree up that long depends on whether the cats start getting involved in it. So far, they haven’t shown much interest, but you never know with cats.
There is something to be said for sleeping alone. I'm not sure what it is, but...
I just have to get the energy to do the shredding and filing, and right now, it escapes me.
The car repairs aren't too extensive, but just time-consuming. And not that expensive in view of things.
The insurance was the killer, so I'll be looking around for something cheaper, soon. I don't expect to be driving a registered vehicle for at least three more weeks. I have to do it in the 30 days from the date of sale, though.
Good morning.
I took my decorations (i.e., Nativities) down yesterday so I could get busy on cleaning but it’s raining and that makes everything more difficult. At this rate, it will take the 12 Days to finish what I started!
*tagline*
Jake was annoyed that I wasn’t under all the blankets. He likes being under the blankets. So he sat on my pillow instead.
Poor spoiled Jake! LOL!
I’m waiting for the bathroom floor to dry and then I’ll go in and put everything back. Sort of. The toilet paper roll holder has a tendency to want to go walkabout, so I need to get a screwdriver in there and see what I can tighten before I lose my patience.
I left another message with the podiatrist. Good thing it’s not an important medicine! I suppose if it was, I would have started calling about the refills long before I used them up.
Yesterday, about an hour after the call from the pain clinic, I got a call from the referring doctor’s office, checking to see if the pain clinic called. AR seems to be one of a kind in that area. But I guess it’s all good if the job gets done properly!
So, off to the next “project,” even though it’s just a chore. I hope it doesn’t take long because I don’t feel up to standing for very many minutes!
LOL!
Yes. The last frame is my Next Step, I think. If you hear something rattling around, you’ll know where it came from. ;o]
FS sent me a text saying that in regards to the repairs, did I want the machine guns to come from the headlights or underneath the chassis?... I said underneath so they couldn’t be seen by whoever I’m chasing...
;o])
Then where will he fit the heat seeking missiles?
Definitely not the headlights.
Going on a trip to the library with a stop by the ATM.
Probably the side mirrors if I know him.
Someone tried to buy a Roomba and some men’s aftershave on my Walmart account this week. Three weeks ago, it was a hot pot. I had Walmart close my account, so I won’t be getting deliveries for a while.
Different cards, which means it has to be someone who works at Walmart in some capacity which has access to computers for things besides stocking, so it was best to just stop the availability of the account.
Some people might not notice it until it was too late, but I live too close to the wire for that. I notice things because I mostly just buy household items. A Roomba is out of my budget on the best of days, and totally useless on the worst of them. The same goes for a hot pot.
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