TIME Best Inventions 2006

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MEALS INVENTIONS

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Just Claws
You already drink organic milk, buy free-range chicken and shun foie gras. But have you assessed your seafood-eating habits? After watching a lobster thrash about as it was boiled alive at a grocery store, a British barrister devised a kinder way to kill crustaceans. His CrustaStun electrocutes them with a 110-volt shock, dispatching them in about five seconds, vs. the two minutes it takes in hot water. A commercial version is already being used by a pair of seafood wholesalers in Britain. A smaller, home version--measuring about 1.5 feet in width and depth--will be out by year's end.

Inventor: Simon Buckhaven
Availability: December; $4,740
To learn more visit crustastun.com

Photo credit: Lorrefrey For Time

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