Haunting Photos of Polar Ice

Odds are, you'll probably never get a chance to see the icebergs around Antarctica. That's a shame, because as Camille Seaman points out in her TED talk, they're really something to see.

This one is short and sweet, and well worth the time to watch.

Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-Century Cyber Weapon

The Stuxnet worm, and what we've read about it in the media, is scary. But it's even scarier than you might imagine. Ralph Langner explains how they dissected Stuxnet, where Langner believes it was originated, and the implications. Watch "cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon" and you'll be fascinated and probably a bit horrified.

Your Favorites?

It's worth mentioning that the TED site is exactly the way that conference videos should be posted. The videos are well-shot. Subtitles are available for the videos in not just English, but many other languages.

There's a full, interactive transcript for each video. You can download videos in high quality formats for viewing later on your phone, tablet, computer or television if you have a player that supports MP4. While there are some ads on the site, they're minimal and not very intrusive. Which, by the way, works. Delta was sponsoring the site, and having minimal advertising attracted my attention more than if it were festooned in ads. However, we've embedded the YouTube links here because the TED embeds were a bit sluggish. Do check out the direct links to the TED site as well, though.

So there you have it, our picks for the best 10 Ted videos of the year. Have a favorite talk from 2011 that's not on the list, or a talk from a previous year that RWW readers should know about? Please share it in the comments!