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# If you mean the wheel
then it's powered by pigeons, strapped to alternating struts of the wheel, with little boys with sticks on the intervening struts. The boys wave the sticks at the birds, who try to fly, providing a turning force. Incidentally, you may have heard that London is full of 'Fat Cats'. This is, in fact, true. Cats would, of course, be the natural choice for such a device, but because all the cats in London are fat, they do not have the energy or inclination to chase after the pigeons themselves.
(, Tue 19 Jun 2007, 12:19, archived)
# *calls up Isaac Newton on the psychic-phone*
hmm, hmm, and the bit about the cats? hmm, OK

He is in total agreement
(, Tue 19 Jun 2007, 12:20, archived)
# Interesting side effect
which Sir Newton may have informed you of: as the cats are so perfectly fat, their coefficient of restitution is effectively 1. This means that if you were to drop one from the top of the wheel, it would bounce up to the same height. This is being investigated as a means of inter-pod communication, as by the time the cat has bounced back up,having been dropped from the uppermost pod, the next pod will be at the top of the wheel.
(, Tue 19 Jun 2007, 12:23, archived)
# you are thinking too much about this :D
(, Tue 19 Jun 2007, 13:02, archived)