Friday, December 30, 2011

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-12-30/miguel-nicolelis-beyond-boundaries-rebroadcast
This file photo from 2000, released by Duke University, showns an owl monkey of the type trained by Duke University Medical Center neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis and his colleagues to operate a robot arm, right, by using the monkey's brain signals. In the background is a computer monitor showing recorded brain signals of the monkey's hand trajectory during testing. - (AP Photo/Duke University, Jim Wallace)

Miguel Nicolelis: "Beyond Boundaries" (Rebroadcast)

10 a.m. (ET)

Diane and her guest discuss the new neuroscience of connecting brains with machines--and how it will change our lives. Award-winning neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis' work with primates has uncovered a new and controversial method for capturing brain function. It is paving the way for a cure for Parkinson's disease, new ways of treating paralysis, and using brain waves to control everything from transportation to manufacturing.

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-12-30/robert-massie-catherine-great-rebroadcast
Portrait of Grand Dutchess Ekatrina Alekseyevna, later Catherine II, c. 1745 by Georg Christoph Grooth (1716-49) - Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia/ The Bridgeman Art Library)

Robert Massie: "Catherine the Great" (Rebroadcast)

11 a.m. (ET)

A new biography of Catherine the Great: Pulitzer prize winning writer Robert Massie recounts the remarkable story of an obscure German princess who rose to become Russia's Empress in the later half of the 18th century and one of the most powerful women in history.

The Diane Rehm Show is produced by member-supported WAMU 88.5 in Washington DC.