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 ...
Excellent news about the dog. It’s been raining here. Tom the Son has not yet appeared to drive with his brothers. Sigh. It’s okay if they go later, as long as they’re all done before 9:00.
And that’s the truth!
Of course, I was amazed when I went to Germany and saw no 18-wheelers on the road at all. None. Unless we were driving after 2200. The big rigs traveled in convoys on the Autobahn. For miles and miles, there was nothing but a line of big rigs. What a clever and efficient way to do business!
But yes, small cars are scary to be in when one is in big city traffic, especially if the roads are older and narrow.
I hope Tom the Son has shown up by now.
My brain doesn’t seem to want to focus on what to do today. Hmpf.
Brains can be finicky. I quit using mine a while ago for just that reason.
James drove us Uptown to the Scout Store to buy some new uniform items. And back.
Vlad has gone off with Tom.
I think I’ll have to use your tactic, ArGee, and just quit using my brain.
I’m glad you survived another Driving Adventure, T-c, and also glad that Tom the Son showed up.
In the meantime, I tripped over a box and almost fell into the pile of them when I got up to visit Mrs Murphey.
So I cleaned the bathroom while I was there anyway, and Mrs Murphey was very appreciative. She told me not to forget the floor but I did. So I need to go back with the Swiffer Wet-Jet.
Our power bills usually come on the first, but I haven’t seen hide nor hair of it, not even online. I’m wondering if they’ve got everyone taking care of the damage from the flash floods earlier in the week. I don’t even want to see my power bill, but I need to. For May, it was less than $50. Then we began to have 100°+ temps.
Tom needed gas money! He’ll be back tomorrow and take at least one of the brothers driving. Probably both.
Thank you for the little angel.
Yayyy for puppy! Frappy Hiday, y’all.
Thanks and you, too!
I have a theory that, if you look at a catball long enough, you can come to share in its supreme self-confidence and relaxation.
Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, ‘Lillian, you should have
Remained a virgin.’
- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)
<><>
I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - ‘No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.’
- Eleanor Roosevelt
<><>
Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen.
I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.
- Mark Twain
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The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending;
And to have the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns
<><>
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
- Victor Borge
<><>
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
- Mark Twain
<><>
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one,
You’ll become a philosopher.
- Socrates
<><>
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
- Groucho Marx
<><>
My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.
- Jimmy Durante
<><>
I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor
<><>
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups:
Alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
- Alex Levine
<><>
My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.
- Rodney Dangerfield
<><>
Money can’t buy you happiness .... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
- Spike Milligan
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Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP .
- Joe Namath
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I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.
- Bob Hope
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I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
- W. C. Fields
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We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
- Will Rogers
<><>
Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
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Maybe it’s true that life begins at fifty, but everything else starts to wear out,
fall out, or spread out.
- Phyllis Diller
<><>
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.
- Billy Crystal
And the cardiologist’s diet: if it tastes good spit it out.
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May your troubles be less, may your blessings be more, and
may nothing but happiness come through your door.
I need those, Nully! Thanks!! I’m so glad your computer is back!
Good for Tom! His bravery is beyond words! (Not as far beyond words as yours is, but you’ve had more practice!)
If I were closer, I’d help, too!
Frappy Hiday, G.S.
I hope you enjoy your visitors!
Have a great and safe weekend!
And remember, my lad, when all is said and done, there’s been a heckuva lot more said than done.
That sounds right.
Youse, too!
I need some catball.
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