RICH IMAGINATION
If money were no object, many of us might fix up an old car or remodel the house. Millionaires and billionaires think bigger. Not content with small stakes, and weary of trophies such as yachts and fancy cars, they use their fortunes to build spaceships, pursue immortality, create island nations, or mine asteroids. Here's a look at a dozen of the most eccentric recent projects of the rich -- many fortunately tilting toward advancing science, especially in our oceans or outer space -- because you're not truly a member of the club without one.