285. The Invention Process
November 5, 2025 • EPISODE 285
How do you turn a great idea into a success? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings takes students through the invention process—from the first spark of inspiration to creating something people truly love. Featuring t-shirt designs by Acellus students, he explores what makes certain ideas stand out and connect. Discover how understanding the invention process can help you bring your own creative ideas to life—and turn them into success stories.
About DrB
Dr. Roger Billings is a visionary innovator whose work has touched the lives of millions of students and transformed the landscape of education. Widely known as “DrB” to the countless kids who benefit from his groundbreaking Acellus learning system, Dr. Billings has dedicated his life to advancing education through technology.
As part of DrB’s lifelong commitment to supporting education, Science LIVE was launched as a way to “give back” by mentoring students in conjunction with the Roger Billings Scholarship Program.
Read more about DrB »
About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program »
Science live rocks!
I like t-shirt # 1
I love watching sience live and Roger billings
Hydrogen Trains. Wow! Hopefully they will look really cool! Also, they will be better for the environment.
I like #10 shirt so much, it’s really funny!
Whats the average amount of time it takes to get a patent?
It was so interesting seeing all the shirts and how different people took different approaches.
That’s amazing how the water turned into ice in the Fiji water bottle!
I like the Mars shirt.
Have a good day to anyone that reads this!
Thank you, you too!! 🙂
I love Science live!
#8 and #10
Can you bring a plus one to attend science live?
Probably, if you get enough tickets https://sciencelive.com/book-tickets/
How many hydrogen cars are manufactured every year.
Science Live teaches me so much knowledge about different parts of science.
I hope hydrogen powered trains come to all parts of the United States someday.
the Xerox machine and how it works is really interesting.
I like the Uncle Sam shirt
Hello from Ohio!
Would you not be able to just use water from the wings Run it through close to the engine to heat it up and then run it back to unfrost the wings
I want you to choose number ten🤨🫵
how long does it take to film scince live?
Science Live is the highlight of my weeks. Thank you.
I am watching with my Mom.
Science Live is most certainly the highlight of my weeks. Thank you.
Really like the 10th T-shirt
How long does it take to get a patent on something?
I learned about Chester Carlson and his invention of electrophotography.
Science live is amazing and you learn so much!
I love science live ❤️
I love all of the shirts, but I love R-51 shirt (52) the most! And I thought #6 (R-51 did it) was awesome!
I am so excited to go into the store and see those amazing shirts up for grabs!
Science Live is the best.
Good job with the t-shirt designs!
I liked the 9 shirt design the best
Will hydrogen trains be faster than regular ones, and will they look different or pretty much the same?
I liked the 10th design for the T shirt
Science Live is the best.
I love science lives 💕
Were can I attend the science life?
Science L!ve? You can buy tickets for it, to attend Live.
When it comes to inventions, is there a way to estimate material costs or should you just go with the flow?
Will the hydrogen trains be able to go faster than normal trains? Also, will they look different or be basically the same as other trains?
I love science live!
The shirt was very funny. 52!
This was a fun science live!
I love you Roger Billings!!
Science live is the best
I hope hydrogen cars spread in all the world.
Follow your passions to find out which experiments to pursue.
it would be cool to see the science live show in a live audience!!
Do you have to pay to go to the science live ?
Science is amazing!
Science Live is my favorite science show
“Hydrogen is the smartest element, well because the others are denser”
I love the #8 and #10 shirts the best out of them. The others are so clever too!
Thank you for teaching us how to invent things.
I hope hydrogen powered trains come to all parts of the United States someday.
Cool i love science! how is Dr roger billings today?
My favorite shirt was #1💙💚💛💙💚💛🐎🐎
science live is really fun! but please add a aviation science category for normal acellus!
I loved this episode of Science Live! The t-shirts were all so cool and inspiring to me plus I loved watching R-51 be silly and make his own shirts!
Hi Dr. Rodger Billings, I hope you see this. I didn’t get a chance to send in my shirt, but I hope you will still see it. I thought it was pretty funny! I can’t wait for the Science Fair!
I love that shirt idea so much!
Hello! hope everyone has a good day.
What’s the name of the process by which cells divide to create identical cells.
Very interesting video. Love The concept of hydrogen train
I love this! “A problem is an opportunity for invention.”
The invention process is hard but worth it!
Why do radio signals become stronger at night?
Everyone’s shirt designs were very fun and creative. Thank you for the great episode!
I like the I want you to invent something
I thought that all the shirts were great ideas, but I think that number 1 is my personal favorite.
I love science!
Those shirts were HILARIOUS! I can’t wait to see more on Science Live!
I think that shirt #8 is very funny! I also enjoyed the segment on de-icing airplane wings.
As someone who is aiming to pursue the automotive industry, the hydrogen cell-fueled vehicle idea is so incredible
I love watching science live!
Great video! Inspired me to invent somthing of my own one day.
Awesome epp, loved the 3, 9, and 5 shirts… 9 is my favorite I think!
It is amazing how inventions can evolve over time to help us make our lives easier.
Everyone did an awesome job on the t-shirts
The hydrogen train idea was amazing. It’s exciting to think about how clean energy could change transportation!
I love the fact that the Acellus team keeps creating opportunities for us to invent wonderful things. I learn so much from Acellus!
This was such a fun Science Live! I really enjoyed looking at all of the creative T-shirt designs.
Will the pilot have control to find the resonant frequency for the wings?
I LOVE this episode!
Did Dr. Billings help design the hydrogen trains?
It’s really cool that there are hydration planes, it’s really good for the environment. If we don’t have to use gas or gasoline, they are the same thing. And I also like this shirt that says R 51 did it.
howdy! from Ohio i loved this episode! And how is r-51 today?
I LIKE NUMBER 1 AND 7!!!!!!!!!!
I had no clue that was how the Xerox worked, that is amazing that someone had the idea to do that.
My favorite part was when R51 stole everyone else’s ideas for his own shirt and then made a shirt about Pajet.
It’s so interesting seeing the early days of modern technology and what had to happen for us to use printers like we do now.
How do inventors stay motivated when their experiments fail over and over again without getting burnt out? from Dallas, TX!!
Honestly, I’d buy t-shirt #8 and wear it religiously, haha!
Oh boy, oh boy, was that sure funny and fascinating. With R51’s shirt being sold, he’ll be able to pay for many other projects.
I like #7 because my dad works on military planes.
Imagine the amount of calluses just from holding a pen on Chester’s hand!
I feel a lot better doing Acellus than being in public school because I’m in a quieter and more peaceful environment instead of a rowdy classroom.
I love Acellus and all of the Science LIVE videos. Make learning so fun!
Thank you! We really love SCIENCE LIVE. Acellus is a great way to learn!
Wow! The process of invention is really cool!
I loved the science t shirt ideas! Thanks for this episode!
my favorite shirt was the 11th one. I ♡ science live
The vibration that they can do to remove ice is very cool!
Love the all-new t-shirts, there is just one that sticks out from the rest for me, it says Inventioneering, where all your ideas come to life.
Watching from South Africa, Live Science is very interesting.
All of those shirts were really cool it was hard to make a decision!
The name “xerox” comes from the Greek words for “dry” and “writing” to distinguish it from wet copying methods.
I LOVE SCIENCE LIVEEEE ITS SO FUN!!! also I THINK that the invention steps is super cool!!
I love these lives so much!!!
It’s amazing how one machine could change everything, the printing press was certainly a fascinating invention. Love R51’s shirt.
I love #7, Best out of all!
Love R51’s shirt! I would for sure buy it!
i notice that y’all changed the comment format i like it
I like r 51 shirt! It is my favorite one!
Watching from Houston Texas Love Science Live!
I enjoyed this live! And the t-shirt designs were cool!
Hi, watching from UT. The t-shirts seems so creative and fun! I really think it was such a fun thing to make. I did had a laugh with R51! I’ll soo buy his shirt!
Listening to other actual student’s success story is inspiring. I wish I would have attended Acellus earlier.
Watching the science lives are my favorite part of my week!
I like the seventh shirt because I will be a pilot when I grow up.
Instant freezing water- first thing I always think of when I hear about cool things like that, as my other comments often lean towards, is “what could be done with that?” It’s cool on its own, amazing really. But think about cooling systems, a reverse thermos bottle that keeps your drink cold, maybe? There’s probably something even more revolutionary behind it, but I can still think of some interesting quality of life things it could be used for, right off the top of my head. Awesome!
Tobias copy machine, WOW. So interesting and cool! Tobias has a way of story telling that no teachers I’ve had before have been able to catch my attention like he does!
I like the opportunity is knocking shirt!!
“inventing an environment” is such a great idea! Making a space more organized is considered inventing! Great idea!
i actually liked shirt 52 it was cute and simple
The invention process is very interesting, and really makes you wonder.
I liked learning about Dr. Billings car!
this episode was awesome just like they all are!!!!!!!!!!
My favorite shirt was #10!
Tobias is still my favoooorite part of the live
Another great Science Live. Dr. Billings has an awesome radio voice. Everyone made great designs for the shirts.
Good Luck with your singing career Rihanna. That water trick was so cool!!! I love science experiments. My favorite shirt was #6! Science Live is so much fun!
I love learning about different things every week from Dr. Tobias and Dr. John. It makes you realize how complex the process is for making things we see as simple and normal compared to the determination of a person who made a idea come to life and succeed after many years.
Is it possible to make a Hydrogen motorcycle?
I love hearing about these new inventions every week, so fun!
Fun look into how a cool idea becomes an invention.
the science he does with hydrogen is always interesting
r51 is so funny!
Can you do the water trick with any other liquid?
Heya! It’s nice to see all these designs from other kids!
in my opinion the best shirt is the “be the sun” shirt
does it use heat and pressure to create the print on the t-shirt?
I love this episode! I love Science Live!
Was Dr.Billings apart of any other radio shows? And would he consider going on or being a guest on different types of science radios or podcasts?
Congratulations to everyone on all the great T-shirts !
Love Dr. Billings!!!
Voting for our favorite shirt shirt is an awesome way to be a part of the creative process in designing a new product.
I decide to conduct my own poll to see which t-shirts were the best, so I went through all the comments and tallied the votes people made. Here are my results.
The top 4 t-shirts are #10 (17.48%), #51 (12.38%), #52 (10.68%), and #6 (9.95%).
On average, each R-51 shirt was voted by 11.085% of students, but each non-R-51 shirt was voted by 4.17% of students.
By the way, #51 had 51 votes. (I did not do that on purpose. I actually didn’t notice until I was counting the votes.
Here are the percentages.
#1 7.03% “Acellus Academy – Unlock your potential!”
#2 3.40% “Acellus – Target goal set! Change the world!”
#3 5.83% “Opportunity is knocking”
#4 7.77% “Don’t invent the sun – BE THE SUN!” (see eps. 233, 9:47 – 11:42)
#5 2.67% “Inventioneering – turning ideas into reality”
#6 9.95% “R-51 did it”
#7 2.91% “Acellus Academy – Inspiring the inventioneers of the future”
#8 8.25% “When life gives you lemons – MAKE FIREFLIES!” (see eps. 279, 44:06-47:08)
#9 3.40% “I’m currently undergoing a science l!ve reaction – powered by curiosity, fueled by science l!ve”
#10 17.48% “I want YOU to invent something”
#11 3.88% “I *heart* science live”
#12 4.37% “Inventioneering – turning ideas into reality”
#51 12.38% “Shame on you”
#52 10.68% “Pajet makes me believe in myself (and aliens)”
How long did that take you to do and that is amazing that you did that it would take me hours or days to do that data!
Science live is cool
R51 is so funny.
I love Science Live! Always a very fun watch.
I really enjoyed hearing about how we can each be inventors! Dr. Billings really explained things well. We can start from a basic level like he said. I’m going to begin with my study space and then my specimen collections!
I LOVE ACELLUS!
I love number 4!
I loved all the amazing T-shirt designs! I can’t wait to see them in the Acellus store!
I like the shirt number 10 because it has Uncle Sam pointing at me saying, “I want you to invent something”.
I’m actually thinking about making my own things,this all really inspired me!
This science live episode was so much fun!
My mom and I have done that trick with a cold water bottle before.
It was so interesting learning all about photoconductivity and about how the printer machine was made. 🖨️🙌
i love these science videos look forward to them every week!!
Inventions are so interesting to me. I love to learn about how people come up with different ideas.
Great job on your shirt designs everyone
I want to invent something that will help other someday.
All of those shirts look fantastic! Very impressive!
Love to see r51 he is so funny!! I love science live. Thank you!
This Science Live was my favorite!
Thank you for the amazing video this week! We liked R51’s shirt! 🙂
I loved R.51’s shirt.
I like the symbolism you used with “labratory of imagination”
Science is so cool! I love Acellus!
Acellus is such a great way to learn! Keep up the good work!
Science live is 10/10!!!
I love this episode!
Seeing all of those shirts were so cool! And fascinating video!
Loving the videos, wishing you well from NC!