Maymont

Why not write about Maymont park?
I will never forget the large iron gates at the front. The park itself got its start when James and Sallie Doolie purchased the land in the late 1800s. Mr. Dooley struck it mega rich in the railroad business in the same era as famous richers as Carnegie and Vanderbilt. Over the years he and his wife (mostly his wife) compiled a grand array of worldly flora. Their house was pretty snazzy to. On their death, the couple left their house to the city of Richmond. Under the city's management, the estate became a public park, but maintenance efforts were far from sufficient. The condition of the estate continued to decline until the Maymont Foundation was given control. 

Dooley Estate

Absent Minded

Sometimes I need to pay more attention; in my last post I mentioned nothing of its intended message. What I meant to discuss was one of the latest endeavors of professional billionaire Richard Branson. As if space travel wasn't enough, he has recently formed Virgin Oceanic, dedicated to exploring the deepest of the seas. If successful, the craft (above) will be able to "fly" up and down through the ocean layers and dive deeper  than any current submersible. This is a huge step from the previous record holder, the bathyscaphe Trieste, which could neither steer nor propel itself forward. The goals of the project are to provide new research and exploration opportunities and to pave the way for more advanced vehicles with sample taking equipment in the future. For current missions, unmanned camera pods will drop to the sea floor to film the sub and take samples. At the end of each expedition the pods will drop their weights and float to the surface.      And I think that is nifty

2.2853987 leagues under the Sea

 It recently occoured to me that the title 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea must be hyperbole (assuming that there isn't explanation in the book, which there may be as I have never read it). 20,000 leagues is just over 60 miles,  far deeper than the 11,034 meters(2.2853987 leagues) of the deepest depths of the Marianas trench. According to my calculations(which I believe underestimate actuality as I haven't the mathematical wherewithal to factor in the pressure and gravity gradients as given by this equation) the pressure at 60 miles would be 71 tons per square inch. To visualize...

about 71 tons or 142,000 lbs

Even still, the real deepest depths of the oceans, known as the hadal zones (from the word Hades), are far from accustomed to exploration . As a result, nearly nothing is known about the deepest of the deep. (I  wish I knew that before I started a research paper on it)