MES Livestream 106: Dr. Tony Cicoria Discusses his Near Death Experience (NDE) Lightning Strike https://youtu.be/gwyKv42EvPE

Dr. Tony Cicoria joins the show to discuss getting struck by lightning while standing next to a public telephone in Albany, New York in 1994, seeing his own body on the ground while his consciousness floated upwards surrounded by a bluish-white light, then waking up back in his own body a few minutes later. And a few days later, at the age of 42, he had the insatiable desire to listen and learn to play to piano music, thus becoming an "accidental" pianist and composer! 

August 30, 2025 SATURDAY at 1 PM PST / 3 PM CST / 4 PM EST / 10 PM CAT / 21:00 GMT (UK)

#nde #neardeathexperience #lightningstrike #consciousness #piano

Ecology: Ecosystems https://youtu.be/IiXjAiAEybw

Ecology is the study of the distribution of living organisms and their interactions with the environment. An ecosystem is the community of living or biotic organisms with their nonliving or abiotic components of their environment. The topography, shape, and tilt of the Earth leads to a wide variety of terrestrial biomes, such as tundras, forests, deserts, and rainforests.

#science #biology #ecosystems #ecology #environment

Animal Form and Function: Animal Behavior https://youtu.be/T5ZHDEn6QRA

In this video I go over animal behavior, which is central to how animals interact with other animals and their environment such as through foraging, mating, and migration. Some actions are genetically determined and occur without learning, such as kelp gull (and other seagull) chicks pecking at the red dot on their mother's beak when they want food. Dutch scientist Niko Tinbergen won a Nobel Prize in part for his discovery that this seagull peaking was instinctive from birth and not learned. 

#science #biology #animalbehavior #animals #nature

Animal Form and Function: Immune System https://youtu.be/xEffS5ZV47M

In this video I go over the mainstream theory of the immune system, which is a network of biological processes that detects and responds pathogens entering an organism. Nearly all organisms have some sort of immune system, while jawed vertebrates (including humans) have sophisticated defense mechanisms and the ability to adapt to recognize previously encountered pathogens. The innate immune system is a rapid and broad defense mechanism, which includes phagocytosis to engulf large foreign particles. The adaptive immune system involves specialized white blood cells (killer cells and T / B lymphocytes) which can recognize unique molecules on pathogens (called antigens) via Y-shaped proteins called antibodies. This immunological memory is the basis of vaccination.

#science #biology #ImmuneSystem #animals #vaccine

Animal Form and Function: Development https://youtu.be/uKx4DDLLSEU

In this video I go over a quick overview of animal development, which starts from the formation of the zygote through the fusion of a sperm and egg cell during fertilization. The zygote then rapidly divides and forms a ball of similar cells called a blastula. Follows next is gastrulation, in which the blastula gets converted into the three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. These three germ layers then form the internal organs.

#science #biology #development #animals #GermLayers

Animal Form and Function: Reproduction https://youtu.be/IEmz_pTA7PI

In this video I go over a quick review of animal reproduction, which can be done in two ways: asexual or sexual. Nearly all animals engage in some form of sexual reproduction, where haploid gametes (motile spermatozoa and stationary ova) merge to create diploid zygotes, which then develop into a hollow sphere called a blastula. 

Some animals undergo asexual reproduction, which don't involve the fusion of gametes or the change in the number of chromosomes, often times resulting in a genetic clone. An example is the incredible Hydra which reproduces via fragmentation by budding out into a new Hydra. The Hydra do not appear to die of old age, or age at all, and can regenerate even if chopped up into pieces! 🤯

#science #biology #reproduction #animals #hydra