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 ...
Gothamites
Shannon got up because the Alpha Female requested she do so.There. Fixed it.
I think she got up because a kid annoyed here, but I took the opportunity to vacuum the living room and the hall.
I just got word that my friend Sharon passed away last night. They took her off life support and let her go Home.
Best wishes to Sharon for a great eternity! And my sincere sympathy to her family and friends.
Was she ready to go?
I ask because I lost two loved ones who were ready to go. I miss them both every day, but take comfort in knowing they knew it was their time and went willingly on their terms (within the limits of their illnesses).
She was probably more ready than most. Not to mention the fact that she had been in ICU for over a month, intubated for almost the entire time, and not always able to communicate.
To put it irreverently, she “had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.” I think she was living in both worlds for some time now, so it may have been a relief to finally let go of this one.
I’m saddened, because I lost a step-daughter two days ago, and now my friend. The former, I didn’t know as well, which makes it even sadder (my loss at not knowing her) but the latter because I saw Sharon at least once a week for three years, and even two days before my move.
However, death is a part of living, and we all need to make that passage, so I hope when it’s my time, I can do it gracefully.
I’ve asked for funeral info so I can at least send flowers. Just to let folks know I’m thinking of her and those she has left behind.
Some person running to replace a GOP Rep tweeted about “New Yorkians.” The GOP Rep “pounced.”
Shoulda stuck with Gothamites...
And thanks!
There is a card from you in today’s mail! ;o]
It takes a bit of the sting out.
My condolences.
I think the reason we rail against death is that, in our deepest selves, we know we were made for eternity.
Thanks! It was expected, but as I learned when my dad died, it’s still a shock. I guess it’s the thought that they would actually WANT to go.
Well, we came from eternity, so it’s only right that we go back to it, to be Eternal. This life is just a “probation” of sorts.
Ask anyone who has had a near death experience if they fear death.
The answer is almost always, “No”...
NDE/OOBE Ping
Seen on Facebook: Try to be the reason a stranger throws up at work.
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