At your country estate construct a pond in the shape of a peritrochoid (see link). It doesn’t need to be very deep, but the walls should be smooth and vertical, perhaps lined with brick or concrete. Fill with water, fish, etc.

In this pond build an equilaterally-triangular floating platform or “island”. It should be big enough that all three corners touch the walls of the pond. Put wheels or rollers at the corners so that they can easily roll along the walls. Place soil, plants, and park benches on the platform to make it look like a real island.

Next, divert some water from the nearest brook. Make the water flow into the pond through inlets located on the “sides” or short axis of the pond. Allow water to drain out through outlets on the “ends” or long axis of the pond.

Voila! Because of water’s natural tendency to seek the lowest level, your island will rotate and revolve in a majestic fashion as the water babbles around.
-- AO, Mar 27 2003

Peritrochoid http://www.nellump.net/peri/whatIs.html
[AO, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

An engine based on the island concept http://science.hows...m/rotary-engine.htm
[AO, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

I’ve seen both babbling brooks and burbling brooks.
-- AO, Mar 27 2003


Could you have round beds in the round rooms, round hottubs, and a bar, which is of course.....SUPRISE round? and serve drinks with really funky names like the roundabout?Wait a sec..... How many RPM's are we talking here??? Do we need straps to keep us in the bed, or on the bar stools?
-- theThinker, Mar 27 2003


Brilliant.
-- hippo, Mar 28 2003


...and all the office buildings would have at their entrances Wankel Rotary Revolving Doors (They'd have to be huge so that there was room for people in them, and occasionally people would get crushed, but they'd be worth it).
-- hippo, Mar 28 2003


This is not only a good idea, but like a diamond, it shines the more brilliantly for the dark surroundings in which it resides.
-- beauxeault, Mar 28 2003



random, halfbakery