Video Antidote to Britney on the VMAs

For those not familiar with the TED talks, they started in 1984 as part of a conference on Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Now about 1,000 people go every year to hear a bazillion talks slated for 18 minutes each, on new big ideas that matter. Some of the best of those talks are posted online, with a couple of new talks going up every week.

So if you're feeling ashamed of yourself for YouTubing Britney's VMA performance, make amends with a couple of these fascinating talks.

Just in the last month: Stephen Pinker on the myth of violence (we're getting less and less violent), Lexicographer Erin McKean on redefining the dictionary (words and paper are not a very good pair–the video embedded above), Segway inventor Dean Kamen on a new prosthetic arm (until recently, all we could give full arm amputees was "a stick and hook").