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 have to get it out of here, and like so many things in my life, I’ve had to learn how to do them alone, without a man’s help.
There was a time when I ran a furniture repair business, so I know how to move things through doorways. I’m really quite good at it!
I also got the small (?) kitchen fan put together. It’s an oscillating fan and should work well in any “small” kitchen. One thing is for sure — my “new” kitchen will have neither outside door nor a window, so it will need a fan to get air moving around in there!
So it’s been a busy day. Again. The next two weeks will be, as well, if I’m not mistaken.
I like a window in the kitchen.
As do I, but for some reason, building on the cheap doesn’t allow for kitchen or bathroom windows, normally. I was lucky enough once to get a skylight in my bathroom, and there were two windows in the kitchen but unless I’ve been lucky enough to live in a duplex, windows in those two rooms are considered non-essential. *sigh*
If I had ever been lucky enough to have a home of my own, I’d get a single-wide, manufactured house. LOTS of windows! Washer and dryer of my own! I might even qualify for something once I get settled and check out the options.
Anyway, I just realized I’m worn out, so I’ll be heading down the hall in a few minutes.
And now we have flash flood warnings, but I don’t see much to trigger them. Maybe in the mountains...
Ta, all!
I hope you have a good night. I’ll be dishing up supper soon, and then maybe a driving adventure. Or not.
Kitteh sez “Ah feel u wif mai eyebrows!”
Good morning.
I ran out of steam in a hurry yesterday for some reason. But I was glad I could do everything I got done. Reflecting on that, I used to be that way every day before You-Know-What! It was fun for as long as it lasted and then the the Down set it.
Still it was a productive day! Today, I promise I will force myself to have a quiet day!
It’s 71° out, which is so much cooler than it has been, headed for a low of 69° then a high this afternoon of 86°. Time for a jacket!
Good morning. Hot and humid here. James has a cold in the head and is all whiny.
The stress of learning to drive. He’s not a good candidate for driving adventures today, poor tyke.
The shower has been had so now it’s on to start the day!
This is yesterday afternoon. It looks like it was taken from the porch of Blondie’s Diner.
https://news.yahoo.com/utahs-zion-national-park-hit-025656108.html
Good morning. Happy Humph Day.
Kitteh iz hiding.
That’s what happens when you get some rain! I plan to take a shower after the trip to the vet.
Today’s special animal friend is Kaiser’s mountain newt, Neurergus kaiseri, a handsome, colorful salamander native to the southern Zagros mountains in Iran. This newt grows to about 5 inches long, making it the smallest species in the Neurergus genus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xutYMLS7ww
The captive-bred individuals in the video above are dull compared to those shown in some other images:
https://www.amphibians.org/amazing-amphibians/luristan-newt/
N. kaiseri has been observed in only four highland streams in the Zagros range. Their habitat is mostly dry scrubland featuring pistachio and oak trees with a few ponds and streams. The newts estivate during the dry season and return to the water to breed in the January/February rainy season. They prefer shallow and slow-moving water with sandy or pebbly bottoms.
During courtship, a male will approach a female face to face. If she moves towards him, signaling interest, the male will turn and walk away, waving and quivering his tail in a very appealing way. The female will follow, occasionally touching his tail, which stimulates additional wiggling. Eventually, he deposits a spermatophore on the sand and maneuvers the female into a position where her cloaca covers the spermatophore.
Following this exercise, the female enters the water and deposits eggs on rough surfaces such as rocks. The eggs hatch and metamorphose in about two months, an accelerated development that reflects the uncertain water supply in their habitat.
N. kaiseri is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN. In the past, they were over-collected for the pet trade and are listed in CITES Appendix 1 (no collection or export). However, captive breeding programs have been extremely successful. The Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, has bred and sold so many N. kaiseri that they used the income to fund a year-long conservation program in Iran.
They are really easy to breed and raise under a variety of water-flow conditions, and they live around 6 - 8 years in captivity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krcv75vXKNE
Threats include habitat destruction/fragmentation and predation by introduced fish. One article estimated the wild population at 1,000 individuals, but the Tulsa Zoo website says they are extinct in the wild. Information from Iran is limited.
It looks like he’s hiding in the native greenery of our yard.
She turned me into a newt! ... I got better.
I’m sure that happens fairly often.
Sorry. I got sidetracked.
I have to go to Dollar Tree. I keep breaking my reading glasses.
Good luck. Vlad drove Shannon and me to the vet. The vet said Shannon is amazing. Shannon said Vlad shouldn’t drive.
Shannon is so wise!
I had a few other stops to make, like one at Walgreen’s again. I asked them before if they could arrange for all my prescriptions to to be picked up on the same day, but was told that Nitroglycerin wasn’t a recurring prescription and yet, that’s what I picked up today. I didn’t call it in.
There was the sweetest little boy sitting on the curb in the shade by the library entrance, with a pile of books. Hardbound comic books, of all things. Hw had four of them. He looked so hot, so I offered him a bottle of water. I keep a case in the truck all the time, and though it was warm, he took it. He was so polite! Yes, please. Thank you. He’s evidently a regular.
I want some chili for lunch but I don’t have any. :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.