Nitric Oxide Crisis
February 26, 2025 • EPISODE 254
Have you heard of nitric oxide and do you know why it matters? Learn more in this episode of Science LIVE as Roger Billings takes us back to 1972 and the General Motors Urban Vehicle Design Competition. Discover how he tackled the challenge of nitric oxide emissions and why his hydrogen-powered car had a cleaner exhaust than even the electric entries—with zero emissions!

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259. Film School
Lights, camera, action! Go behind the scenes at Acellus Studios in this exciting episode of Science LIVE. Join Tobias for an exclusive tour, where you’ll see the Acellus film sets, green screen, and learn about the incredible work that goes into each Acellus lesson, making learning fun and inspiring for students around the world.
PLUS, get an exclusive first look at a special storyboard pitch for a motion picture about Roger Billings and the first hydrogen car.
258. My Greatest Invention: FSD
What is Roger Billings’ greatest invention? In this episode of ScienceLIVE, he shares the story behind FSD—an innovation that has profoundly impacted technology, the internet, and the way our world stays connected. Learn how it was developed, the challenges faced along the way, and why it stands out among his many pioneering achievements.
257. The Computer That Changed the World
How did one computer revolutionize technology as we know it? In this episode of Science LIVE, Roger Billings shares the story of a groundbreaking invention that changed the future of computing. Discover how early computers evolved and how Dr. Billings predicted the end of mainframes—an idea many doubted. But he proved them wrong by creating the first all-in-one personal computer, shaping the way we use technology today!
This was a GREAT episode!
I love how every science live I learn more and more about the Hydrogen Car!!
Wow, I enjoyed learning about cars.
Thank you for telling us about these Hydrogen cars
Here’s a $100 r-51💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰
Pollution free cars would definetly be good for the ecosystem.
I’ve probably watched this episode of Science Live 20 times 🥲
I really think hydrogen powered cars need to be more current in mainstream society
This one was very interesting! Thank you.
With, hydrogen powered cars.. it reduce the air pollution and such because it offers zero emission nd sustainability. That’s very interesting!
How does the new telescope supposed to capture and hold the data to map the entire sky?
DrB is so funny! I love watching these!
Cars are my passion. I really enjoyed this science live.
NEVER MIND I LOVE R-51 IN THIS ONE
Wow hydrogen powered cars are so cool.
I love watching these videos and learning!
Would hydrogen cars be a better alternative than other cars?
Pollution free cars would be very beneficial to the eco system.
I love that analogy…”You can see the invisible” with the microscope. Never thought about it that way.
As an automobile enthusiast, it’s good to see technology advancing towards hydrogen powered cars in today’s age where people are moving away from fossil fuels.
I feel like we definitely need more hydrogen cars in our lives, it would be so much better for the environment.
Hydrogen cars seem like a much better alternative to gas because of climate change and pollution!! Thank you!
I liked learning about the discovery of plant and animal cells and the cell theory.
We definitely need more hydrogen powered cars as an option
It’s a shame we don’t see more hydrogen-powered cars in the mainstream
We need hydrogen for cars.
Hydrogen powered cars seem super awesome!
Its cool that dr.Roger billings did so many things in his life!
Hydrogen-powered cars could be an alternative to gas-powered cars, they would be better for the environment!
I would love to learn more about hydrogen cars
i thought is was really funny when 51 was playing the instrument! and he said (well i am going to need to learn about this)
Woahhh literally amazing
Wow! R-51 is so cool.
Sometimes I feel like I’m not equipped to teach my daughter science lol! Always something new to learn with her and she has definitely grown to love science with the information from these
The hydrogen powered car is such an amazing invention!
My dad says this was the introduction of the exhaust gas recirculation system on internal combustion engines, he’s a mechanic.
I didn’t know our teeth was the only part of our body that wasn’t able to repair itself.
This video explains nitric oxide that can power a car with electric entries. It was so funny when the nitric oxide in the treasure box opened it up.
rubber bands to the rescue, it saved the day.
what was the company called?
After watching this video, I think that we should stary using hydrogen powered cars more.
I really hope Hydrogen powered things become more mainstream!
Wow I would love a hydrogen-powered car!
Hydrogen powered cars sound cool!
These Science Lives are really interesting and always teach me something awesome!
If cells make up living things, what makes up non-living things like rocks? Is it cells or something else?
I was also really interested in learning about Dr. Billings’ hydrogen car. I was wondering if he was able to give the car back to Volkswagen in the same condition he got it in?
This would be so much better than the cars we have now.
Somebody did sabotage you they wanted to win instead of you
It’s crazy to think we’ve come so far with technology and science a car can run on hydrogen.
love these videos!
Space is always interesting to learn about!!
wowwwww
R-51 is super funny in this video!
Science is cool!
Nitric Oxide turning into Nitric acid by adding water is very interesting
I enjoyed this video, I love learning new things every day.
I never knew you could run a car on something like hydrogen.
OMG, the amount of challenges you had, and solved is absolutely crazy to me.
I wish the government would stop holding better things back. Hydro cars would be such a good advancement for our society.
Never knew that cars can be powered by more than one thing.
You should have a race between a Hydrogen and an Electric car.
I hope hydrogen-powered cars will be wide-spread and mass produced in the future!
Tackling something like that sounds complicated. I’m really impressed!
Enjoyed the video. Hydrogen powered cars are cool.
Why don’t we see more things powered by other gases?
Never gave up
The more children parents have, the stronger their brains, which I do fully believe.
I really enjoyed the part about cells as well as learning about your experience with your hydrogen powered car.
Who was the person who discovered infrared lights?
Im going to ask for a microscope for Christmas. So we make new skin like snakes. Why don’t our teeth fixi itself if it is cells and bone?
you never gave up!
Wow, was really cool learning about these different kinds of cars! Now I want a water powered car.
Pollution free cars is such a great idea
Can’t wait to see what the infrared map of the sky would look like.
Can’t wait to see what that map of the sky looks like. I also found the info on nitric oxide interesting.
R51s a good invention
I had fun watching this with my brother. New energy cars are all so innovative. Environmental friendly is also a plus.
I learn so much from science live. I Love the idea “off science”.
Thank you, Science live. Always learning great stuff.
I love how you guys explain things!
I want to enter a science fair.
Really cool drawings of a bugs, love the details.
In today’s society, after hearing the lecture today, I strongly agree that we should start using hydrogen powered vehicles instead of electricity, not only it will clean earths air, but there also wouldn’t be any pollution involved which is some much better for our environment.
This episode was really fun to watch!!
R51 is so funny!
woah this is very cool
It’s so cool that you made the first hydrogen-powered car Dr. Billings!
Interesting video,mi dad and I watched together, we love cars.
That’s so cool!
hydrogen powered vehicles are cool
Great video, loved how they tackled the nitric oxide emission problem.
Dr .B explained the things very good
Its very helpful,and I really like those videos🌝⭐
r51 <3
So awesome
That is amazing that your car scored so well. When will they mass produce this type of car vs the electric as an alternative fuel car?
so cool love this
Hydrogen cars make so much sense
Thank you Science Live.
I love watching these so I can learn new things every day!
Send me r51
I want r51’s invention 🙃
Loved the video thank you for teaching me something new!!
Everything was so interesting, but my favorite part was the persistent of Dr.B for not giving up and showed his project and win.
We 💜 r51
Very intriguing! This taught me so much!
That is so cool. I love learning new things. Also funny clone joke!!
I loved learning how hydrogen powered vehicles are a cleaner alternative to car fuel. As well that it is environmentally better.
Who actually invented the microscope? I’ve always wanted one of those but they cost sooo much!🔬
I think anything that is created that we can drive in and can be pollution free is fantastic. My dad has an old diesel and there’s a lot of black smoke that goes in the air. I think we need to start with fixing them first and then get us some pollution-free cars. Or flying cars.
wow I learned something new today!
I am buying R-51’s invention..
How much nitrogen oxide does loghting make
WOW so cool! Loved this video! Thank you Dr Rogers!
For this episode, Dr. Billings’ story makes it clear that something as common as car exhaust can have serious consequences. His message is a wake-up call—now that we know the harm, it’s on us to do something about it.
I really loved this video. It definitely was intriguing and I learned something new.
Learning about nitric oxide was interesting.
I understand the cell theory so much better after this video. Thank you so much.
In today’s society, after hearing the lecture today, I strongly agree that we should start using hydrogen powered vehicles instead of electricity, not only it will clean earths air, but there also wouldn’t be any pollution involved which is some much better for our environment.
I think hydrogen powered motors are the motors of the future.
Back in 1972 and the General Motors Urban Vehicle Design Competition, I learned that Billing tackled the challenges about Nitric Oxide Emission. His very best hydrogen powered car had a clean exhaust than the other entries with no emission.
The idea of using a telescope to map the sky is a very clever idea of using this technology.
AMAZING VIDEO
Love this! so cool!
i loved the video<3
I love learning something new whenever I see these lives!
tobias needs more screen time
I did not know about the importance of nitric oxide emissions and how hydrogen-powered vehicles can offer a cleaner alternative even compared to electric cars. That was cool was unaware of the significance of nitric oxide emissions and how hydrogen-powered vehicles can provide a cleaner alternative, even when compared to electric cars. That was interesting.
I really like cars, so this video was really intriguing
The reason excessive amount nitric oxcide is dangerous is because having to much nitric oxcide in the body can lead to a lot of problems like lung damage and breathing difficulties.
By far one of my favorites episodes
Wow, that’s so cool thanks!
it is so amazing how people have managed to see an atom so impressive.
WOW, I thought nitric oxide was just another boring element but geez it’s more important than I ever would have thought! thanks so much
Amazing 👏
I enjoyed learning about cell theory!
I think this program gives a great impact to knowing what’s going on about science.
Toyota is working on hydrogen powered motors. Also, I’ve seen boats doing this with marine engines. Really cool
Exciting video!
It’s amazing how you made your own car without pollution.
I love science
Only if hydrogen cars were more affordable and popular
I did not know about the importance of nitric oxide emissions and how hydrogen powered vehicles can offer a cleaner alternative even compared to electric cars, That was something cool to learn and here about.
Is nitric acid in the rain just in America or the whole world?
love the video!
I had fun watching thank you so much!
Can the hydrogen powered car turn back into something else?
Science live is always so interesting and entertaining!!
I’m amazed with this video, it’s very interesting to find out new information.
That was cool with the rubber bands.
This was such a cool lesson!!! Thanks Mr. Rogers! 🤩
I learn something new every time I watch one of these videos and I love it.
Me and my family work with cars so this is useful to me! Thank you!
loved this episode
How was nitric oxide discovered??
Interesting. Crazy how that works.
This was a cool lesson!
my great grandpa retired from general motors.
Model A4 is so interesting.
Cell theory is very interesting for the medical research. 3 billion new cells everyday. wow
the thing that it is ,is that we all drive diffrent types of cars but this one can going for many miles than any other type of cars
This episode is very informative.
Loved this! Congrats on winning first place!
R 51 is really funny
I thought it was cool to find out how nitrogen dioxide turns in to nitric acid when combined with water.
I think its so cool that throughout time we can watch these amazing people work together to figure out the world around us. DrB is amazing!
I find it so inspiring how Dr B used his abilities in science to try and tackle a large pollution issue. Car emissions are a devastating factor to our ecosystem I really hope this alternative can be expanded on and become an affordable option for people.
Rubber bands for the win!
Why is nitric oxide so dangerous.
The idea of someone cutting the spring of a hydrogen car is crazy
Here for science ! Great class
This live has to be one of my favorites
Thank you Dr. Rogers I learned a lot!
Amazing episode!
Why does a telescope have to remain cold when using infrared lighting? Does it have to do with how infrared functions, or something else?
It’s fascinating how we find new ways to improve previous inventions/discoveries.
Never knew you could run cars with water.
these videos give me so many interesting facts
The drawings of bugs and the bark under a microscope is incredibly impressive how accurate the drawings were.
I find these videos very informative and fun a great way to learn fast and easily, especially when they speak of the chemical of nitric oxide making it easy to comprehend when younger viewers watch.
love science live!
i love the jokes and how we always learn something
When they take the pictures of space and are able to collect them all to make a map does space ever make major changes in short periods of time that would make the images inaccurate?
R-51 is neat
WOW!
So cool love the videos
This science live is amazing. Makes me feel more intelligent.
Is there a reason why lighting makes nitric oxide
Ever since I heard of the rubber band moment, I carry around a rubber band in my pocket… Thanks to the Science Live!
Where do you get your ideas for science live.
It’s horrible that somebody could have cut the spring on the car, but luckily there was a rubber band!
Love the jokes
I wish all cars were as clean for the environment as the ones you were working on
Loved it
Learn something new every day!
I’m still wondering who cut the spring.
I really enjoyed learning about Nitric Oxide. I also thought it was cool that you ended up with a negative score on your car.
Interesting how cells got their name… 🙂
That would be great to have no pollution.
i like watching this
R51 is so funny
I really liked this lesson!
I think it’s interesting that we can do so much space exploration. People are extremely intelligent.
I learn something new every time I watch these live videos
The humor really brings everything together, best of both worlds of entertaining and educational.
Im starting to like science live more and more, it’s a great way to expand my mind outside of school, it’s super beneficial.
Do you get new cells in your brain when you learn a new language?
This was actually pretty cool.
This is so interesting! I learned so many different things from this video that I never knew about before.
I had so much fun watching this vedio
The jokes throughout the video always keep things interesting.
This is one of my favorites! So much to learn.
That’s so cool that after this video I have new skin lol
I did not know about nitric oxide. interesting
Dr. Billing story’s really are amazing! Wait so is there a benefit to Nitric Oxide, or are there only negative effects?
I enjoyed the science fair story 🙂
I found the comment, “parenthood keeps your brain young” to very accurate. Love this video!
certainly amazing i love cars
Wow, since when did Science live add the ability to see other comments? My question that I’ve been thiking for a while is could anyone get a motorcycle to run on Hydrogen?
these lives are so educational
rubber bands FOR THE WIN.
Wow this is so amazing. hydrogen is so amazing
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍😍
I am inspired by your perseverance and determination with your hydrogen engine
r-51 mannnnnnn I love you and your soooo funnyyyyy
R-51 is so funny!
The idea of someone cutting the spring of your hydrogen car is crazy! Hopefully it had just snapped, and it wasn’t someone’s malicious doings!
is there any way to turn the water byproduct from running the hydrogen powered car back into hydrogen to use in the car
Sorry I have been late to these, this is one of my favorite videos since it showed the Model A4.
rubber bands for the win
Wow
i love the breakthroughs so fun
I love learning something new every time I watch these lives
I love this one. it is so cool
Cool video
Very informative video!
R-51 is funny
Great episode.
R-51 is so funny
Every time we learn something new, thank you very much Acellus.
How was nitric oxide discovered?
i always enjoy the jokes at the beginning.
Awesome!
amazing
love this
How do scientists measure carbon monoxied
Our bodies are amazing how it can heal itself!
Wow, I cannot wait to see the photos from the new telescope!!
How dangerous can nitric oxide be to the respritory system?
Learning about Dr B’s ideas and inventions is interesting.
will cars run on water?
This was a fascinating video.
This is AMAZING 😍🤩
Esto es INCREIBLE 😍🤩這是個很棒的消息,我也很喜歡這個,我很期待下一個影片的發布,哈哈
This was very interesting.
I love the humor in science alive. It makes science more fun.
Every time we learn something new, thank you very much Acellus.
The opening jokes are always funny.
did not know about the importance of nitric oxide emissions and how hydrogen powered vehicles can offer a cleaner alternative even compared to electric cars. that was cool
Wow
Why does lighting produce nitric oxide?
This was pretty interesting to hear!
Great Episode!
I love microscope 🔬
Nice
Robert Hooke’s drawings were so good! That’s amazing how cells produce new cells so quickly.
I never knew that nitric dioxide was polution
Great episode
How do people measure carbon emissions
I love this video!!!
NICE VIDEO
Thank you. Interesting how cells regenerate all the time.
Thanks again for a great video!
Very interesting episode!
Wow! I can’t believe how cold the telescope has to be. The fact that is has to be funnel shaped is so interesting.
Awesome to learn more about Nitric Oxide. Thank you.
wow
I learned most of this in biology but a refresh never hurts
This was a great video, my question that I’ve been for a while is could anyone get a motorcycle to run on Hygrogen?
Wow so cool!!
this is one of the best Episodes!!!
r51 is extremely funny!🤪
Thank you for this interesting episode! I always wondered who discovered cells and now my questions are answered!! Thank you science live!!
It’s crazy to me how far space telescopes have advanced. I have just a little one in my room.
this was a great video
thank you.
Cars are cool! Hard to make.
Creating a new and better kind of car that is good for the environment is so difficult. Wow, great job, Dr. Billings!
I liked the hydrogen car because it looked so cool
did you make a hydrogen car converable?
Another great video, I always knew about nitric oxide and some of its effects but I never knew about the emissions and its damage.
This is interesting
Thanks for the video.
Amazing!
This was so cool!
This was a great episode!
wow
I liked learning about the hydrogen car.
Who invented the microscope?
I didn’t know a chromatograph existed until today. It’s really interesting how it works.
Fascinating video!
Great lesson to watch and learn. Very fun and interesting.
Hello everyone!! Has anyone meet Dr. Roger Billings? Comment on this post if y’all agree!!!
new satellite infrared is really amazing. Always disappoints me when someone cheats to try to win, Thumbs up for rubber bands.
That was pretty cool.
Nitric oxide is a fascinating element
We enjoy watching these episodes of Science Live. Thank you.
I want a hydrogen car
so fun loved it
I love this episode!
I really liked this episode. Thank you!
I agree with Noah why does lighting produce nitric oxide?
A rubber band! What a stretching situation! 😏😜
Nice episode, probably the best I’ve seen. 👍
How fast can scientist reduce the amount of nitric oxide?
What does Nitric Oxide do to the environment?
Great episode!
I found the fact that all cars produce nitric oxide when burning gas interesting! I never knew that before
Is nitric oxide present at all on Mars or any other planet/moon? Also, on the rubber band idea, my dad says that was a classic example of “adapt and overcome”.
Nice episode.
buon episodio
Do vehicles release more carbon monoxide than nitric oxide?
How did it get a negative answer!
When did they first discover DNA, and were they able to understand genetics at least a little bit?
Love learning about new stuff every week!
That’s is so many parts.
How creative to use a rubber. band to make coil work on your car.
Great Episode!
Where do cells come from?
I think that its interesting that discoveries can go hundreds of years and not be used. But suddenly blow up and the founder gets a bunch of credibility.
How significantly will scientists be able to reduce the amount of nitric oxide within the next few years?
This is an interesting topic.
amazing points.
1000 to 1200 parts per million!? That is insane!!!
This was interesting taking it back to GM design in 1972.
Thank you! I really enjoy hearing all your stories and learning so much from them.
Who found out how many cells we have
I have always been interested in the whole cars topic. When I was younger I wanted to be a racecar driver. What are the effects of becoming one medically? With the forces and energy it takes from your body, it has to have some kind of science behind it. Thank you!
why does lighting produce nitric oxide
Hydrogen car is my favorite to learn about