Rare Orange Lobsters And Massachusetts

Rare Orange Lobsters And Massachusetts, While unpacking a 20-crate shipment of lobsters, the retail manager at a Mansfield, Mass., seafood restaurant noticed something odd: Five of the lobsters appeared to have been cooked already.It must have been a joke, he thought at first, until he saw them move. The bright-orange crustaceans, it turned out, were a one in more than 10 million find, according to marine experts.

In the days since this rarity made local headlines, a frenzy of curiosity-seekers has descended on Fresh Catch, owner Bill Sarro said.

“They were filming a movie with Kate Winslet a mile away, but more people came here,” said Sarro. “It’s great for business.”

Sarro said he knew the finding was important when he got a call from Boston’s New England Aquarium.

Several orange lobsters are already on display at the aquarium, spokesman Tony LaCasse said, along with a rarer calico lobster (estimated at 1 in 30 million) and a blue lobster (estimated at 1 in 5 million).

Estimates for the rarity of lobster pigments, which are partly genetic, are in flux, LaCasse said. But the fact that five orange lobsters turned up in one batch, he said, suggests the variation might hold a comparative advantage for its inheritors, at least in the waters around Quebec’s Magdalen Islands, where Sarro’s orange lobsters originated. Last year, orange lobsters turned up in Cape Cod and New Brunswick. (ABC News)

Giant Asteroid Heading Our Way

Giant Asteroid Heading Our Way, The just-discovered space rock is as big as a city block, but isn’t to impact us – on this pass. An asteroid the size of a city block is set to fly by Earth Thursday (June 14), and you may be able to watch it happen live.The near-Earth asteroid 2012 LZ1, which astronomers think is about 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide, will come within 14 lunar distances of Earth Thursday evening. While there’s no danger of an impact on this pass, the huge space rock may come close enough to be caught on camera.

That’s what the team running the Slooh Space Camera thinks, anyway. The online skywatching service will train a telescope on the Canary Islands on 2012 LZ1 and stream the footage live, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT Thursday (0000 GMT Friday).

You can watch the asteroid flyby on Slooh’s website, found here: http://events.slooh.com/

2012 LZ1 just popped onto astronomers’ radar this week. It was discovered on the night of June 10-11 by Rob McNaught and his colleagues, who were peering through the Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.

Researchers estimate that the space rock is between 1,000 and 2,300 feet wide (300-700 m). On Thursday evening, it will come within about 3.35 million miles (5.4 million kilometers) of our planet, or roughly 14 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Because of its size and proximity to Earth, 2012 LZ1 qualifies as a potentially hazardous asteroid. Near-Earth asteroids generally have to be at least 500 feet (150 m) wide and come within 4.65 million miles (7.5 million km) of our planet to be classified as potentially hazardous.

‘UFO’ Spotted On Washington Beltway

‘UFO’ Spotted On Washington Beltway, Drivers snap pictures of the mystery craft being transported late at night by the military. Washington, D.C., area are buzzing about what they thought was a UFO atop a flatbed truck on the Capitol Beltway.

Turns out the disc-shaped object was just a run-of-the-mill military drone.

MyFoxDC reports that what drivers saw-and some photographed-around 11 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 270, and then later on Interstate 495, was an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System being transported from Edwards Air Force Base in California to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland for testing.

During its travels through the D.C. area, local station WTOP reported a flurry of activity on Twitter about the strange-looking object.

This not the first time a drone was mistaken for something alien. Last year, a drone being transported by flatbed to Pax River for practicing aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings was also mistaken for a UFO, the Daily Caller reported.

The Perfect SUV For Paranoid Billionaires

The Perfect SUV For Paranoid Billionaires, Steel plating, shocking door handles, smoke and tack dispensers – this ride means business. When people think of car safety features, airbags, seatbelts or anti-lock brakes likely come to mind. For the extremely wealthy, government officials, or expatriates living in high-risk areas, something more secure is often needed. To meet the demand, companies have sprung up around the world to reinforce and bulletproof cars and trucks — a practice known as “up-armoring.”

One such company is Houston-based Texcalibur Armor, which provides bulletproof vehicles and luxury armored cars to everyone from diplomats, SWAT teams and government contractors, to business executives, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals.

“The idea behind the process is to take an SUV or another car, strip it apart, and add bullet-resistant steel, composite material and ballistic glass,” said Scott Newman of Texcalibur Armor. “The end game is to put the vehicle back together so it’s discreet and nobody knows it’s armored.”

Newman estimates that the company produces 90 vehicles per year, but notes that vehicles vary substantially by where and how they are intended to be used, with 95 percent of them headed to overseas markets like the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. “When you’re in these countries and there is a disproportionate amount of wealth, you can easily become a target,” Newman said.

The price tag of a fully up-armored vehicle can vary between $45,000 to more than $100,000, not including the price of the original vehicle. The process can add an excess of 1,200 pounds and offers protection from assault rifle rounds, carjackings, fire and in the most extreme cases armor-piercing rounds and roadside bombs.

Verizon Dramatically Revamps Phone Plans

Verizon Dramatically Revamps Phone Plans, The firm is introducing shared data plans in the biggest change to wireless pricing in years. Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest cellphone company, is dropping nearly all of its phone plans in favor of pricing schemes that allow consumers to share data usage among up to ten phones and other devices.

The new plans will let individuals add non-phone devices like tablets and laptops to their plans, as well as the phones of family members.

The change takes effect June 28.

It’s the biggest revamp in wireless pricing in years, and one that’s likely to be copied by other carriers. AT&T Inc. has already said that it’s looking at introducing shared-data plans soon.

Verizon’s new “Share Everything” plans include unlimited phone calls and texting, and will start at $90 per month for one smartphone and 1 gigabyte of data. If used only with a smartphone, “Share Everything” prices are lower than for current plans with unlimited calling and texting, but higher than plans with limited calling and texting.

Bigger savings will come for those who add more devices like tablets to their plans. In such cases, the new pricing system will be cheaper compared to getting separate data plans for each device. That gives Verizon a chance to capitalize on the growing popularity of tablets. Few consumers put tablets on data plans, probably because they dread paying an extra $30 or so per month, on top of their phone bills.

Under “Share Everything,” adding a tablet to a plan will cost $10 per month. Adding a USB data stick for a laptop will cost $20.

Verizon’s limited-calling and texting plans will disappear, except for one $40-per-month plan intended for “dumb” phones. Verizon is keeping its limited-data plans for single non-phone devices, like the $30 tablet plan.

Free IPad Apps: Top Hits And Hidden Gems

Free IPad Apps: Top Hits And Hidden Gems, You may have a few of these on your device already – but not all of them. It’s the hottest tech toy of the year, thus far, and for good reason: Apple’s latest iPad builds upon what made its predecessors so popular – an intuitive touchscreen interface, smooth integration with iTunes and 10-hour battery – but have added a high-resolution “Retina” display, better cameras and faster graphics processor.

Finding and downloading applications at the App Store is also a cinch compared to other tablets, and with nearly 800,000 to choose from — including support for apps designed for iPhone and iPod touch.

In fact, not only are apps relatively affordable — only a buck or two apiece, for the most part — but many tens of thousands of them are completely free to use, as well.

If you’re looking to fill up your iPad with awesome apps that won’t cost you a dime, consider these following suggestions — ranging from the über popular to the obscure, but all worthy of your attention.

Skype for iPad
Ok, so this one might not be much of a shocker. iPad 2 and new iPad owners can video chat for free with friends and family anywhere in the world – as long as they’re using a Skype-enabled device, too, such as a tablet, smartphone, computer or television.

Using a Wi-Fi network or cellular connectivity (if the tablet has it), you can see who you’re talking to and they can see you, plus you can tap to change to the rear-facing camera for them to see what you’re looking at (such as a home renovation, as you walk around the home). Another great video calling app for iPad is Apple’s own FaceTime, which works over Wi-Fi but not cellular connectivity.

Planetary
Music lovers, listen up. The free Planetary is a beautiful way to explore and listen to the music stored on your tablet. As the name suggests, Bloom Studio’s app delivers a 3-D rendering of space — but the stars are the artists in your music collection, the planets that rotate around them are the albums and the moons that rotate around the planets are your songs.

As you listen to your tunes, the camera slowly pans around the beautifully animated celestial scene. Not only does it look great on the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen, but you also can connect the tablet to a big-screen TV (via an optional HDMI adapter) to wow your friends during a house party.

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