How to Invent
November 19, 2025 • EPISODE 287
How do great inventions begin? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings breaks down the process of inventing—showing how curiosity, creativity, and simple problem-solving can grow into real innovations. Using Morse code as an example, he explains how messages are sent and demonstrates it with a telegraph key. A fun, practical look at how anyone can start turning ideas into inventions.
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 »
Thank you!!
I love getting to watch and learn from Dr. Roger Billings!!!
Is Morse Code going to be a class included into a curriculum?
R51 always makes me laugh!
I love watching the experiments I see on science live!
Best advice ever…always be kind to everyone!
I love how Dr. Billings said write down what you want to achieve. I will definitely do this. I love this advice.
I like the way the kid explained studying and learning math. Is it harder to rebuild that wall or restart the wall?
Thanks for another wonderful Science Live! And thank you for clearing some things up about how the scholarship requirements work. I still do have a question though – Dr. Billings said that signing in gives credit for watching, so does this mean posting a comment is not required for the scholarship? I’ve watched every, or at least almost every, Science Live since I started at Acellus, but I don’t always have a good comment or question to add to the conversation, so I wanted to know if I would still be getting credit even without posting comments every week.
The new era of robots is coming! Disney is creating little robots that can fall with style! They are taught to fall and look like they mean it, so that they can protect the batteries when they fall! To ensure they can remember the falling technique, people jab the robots with sticks to make sure that they learn properly. Their fall style is similar to humans because we usually try to protect our heads while robots have batteries to protect them instead.
We also learned about Ray Tomlinson, who in the 1960’s to 1970’s, got a job at a place that was working on Arpanet. Arpanet was like the old version of the e-mail. His job at the time was to make ARPANET work better. While Tomlinson was working on the project, he thought about the idea of making the message instead of being printed, sending a message go from one computer to another. He managed to make his idea work, but he forgot what message he sent, which was super funny.
Today R-51 got his heart broken by Billings because he didn’t think Pajet had a favorite student. He invented a communication device so he could prove him wrong! The Communicator looked like a megaphone with streamers on it. He called out to Pajet and she told him that he is her certifiably favorite student.
Science is one of my favorite subjects.
Amazing lesson today, it is wonderful that people learned how to communicate with a series of beeps!!
Sad that parents boast about not doing the science live and announcing it. Peoples scholarships are on the line and other humans take advantage of this privilege.
I love science 🩷
what was Roger Billings latest invention?
i cant get enough of science live!!!!!!!
Me too I love R-51 and Pajet Monet
Love watching Science live with my sister!
I AGREE!!!! It’s ALWAYS awesome!!!!!
Thank you so much for the great opportunities
Morse code is very fascinating and very interesting.
I love Acellus science live
I love Acellus
I asked for a microscope for Christmas. I hope I get it because I am excited to use it! Thanks Acellus for always giving me great ideas of what I want to experiment.
The “@” symbol was used because it was so unique no one would have it in their name.
It’s crazy how we got computers to be so small!
Wow! That is so cool to see a picture of the computer that sent the first email!
This Science Live was super interesting! I loved the part about all the robots. Looking forward to the next science live!
I like the part of writing down your ideas. I always carry a notebook with me.
I like the robot drawings the Disney animators did!
I like all the funny jokes in Science Live! It makes learning fun, I look forward to watching.
I love science live! Ready for this video!
I really enjoyed this episode! Especially the Morse code segment.
thank you Roger billings
I love R51
I love watching these!
Science Live is just lovely.
I like to set goals for myself. ㅤ Morse code is cool.
We don’t have a microscope at home. I would love the chance to get to use one.
The part about the invention of e-mail was cool.
I feel bad for those little robots!
This is by far one of my favorite science lives!
Morse code is fun to decode
I really liked the history of the @ symbol.
I love Acellus!
the robot falling down was way too funny to me lol
I liked the part about Morse Code. It’s so interesting!
Will a Morse Code class be added?
I cant imagine life without email. Things are so instant these days. Imagine having to wait several days to get a hello note from your family a few States away…
I saw a robot cleaning a floor in a gas station today. When I walked up to it, it told me that it was cleaning and to do not disturb. I watched it go back to its charging station and self clean the dirty water out of its tank.
I like the idea of writing ideas down. I always keep a notebook on me for jotting things down.
I love this it was so cool
Morse code is really interesting. The different ways people found to communicate over distances is fascinating.
I love learning and I hope to make some inventions in the future!
I have so many ideas of things I want to invent!
Morse code is fun!
The 2 way morse code part was really interesting!
I think it is very important to hold parents accountable!! My father does not pressure me on my school work because he knows I am responsible enough to keep up with it.
I wonder if with the invention of higher quality microscopes/nanoscopes that scientists would be able to discover new organisms.
I love Morse code
Thank you!
That was pretty cool about the Disney robots.
i love Acellus
I would have never thought about what needed to be protected on a robot if it fell.Thank you for discussing as well as showing that
I loved this video! Especially the part about Morse Code. That is so interesting that they were able to do that!
Wow I never knew you could see other comments, ive always wanted to learn morse code.
Thank you science live for all this information
I think it would be cool to learn Morse Code!
Very cool science live!
I started learning Morse code in 4th grade, its interesting!!
I love science so much
What was the biggest computer?
I really loved the morse code bit! Thank you for another great science live!
I love getting taught about electronics.
That microscope sounds really cool and interesting
I can’t believe computers used to be so big
The part about morse code was cool!
The thought process behind inventing something is incredibly important. As someone who is into creative works, I often find myself not keeping the full scale of what I’m creating in mind and it always leads to me burning myself out. Breaking down what you have to do into steps makes it much easier and gives you a better idea on where to start.
I loved learning about the invention of Email.
What are the key stages involved in the invetion process?
Definetely a interesting part of history
Really liked this live! Especially the Morse code part!
The exclamation for emails would’ve been very interesting. Maybe someone should program a social media app that uses “!” in place of “@“ to kind of experiment with how we could communicate to different computers and servers with this different kind of symbol.
morse code is a very cool language and should be more widely known!
I love the story of the Wright brothers. I think I might invent something someday.
I always loved learning about Morse code. How long did it take for people to actually understand it? How did they memorize each letter?
Thank you for todays lesson! It was a great video and can’t wait for the next one!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE science lives and learning new things!!
Hello! I just finished watching this episode of Science Live and I really enjoyed seeing Dr. Billings use Morse code.
The Disney robots are so cool, I also wonder if they would be used for characters/parades in the future!
I find this process very interesting! When I first saw the title of the video I thought it would be pretty basic but it has many impressive depths to it.
greetings from texas!
Spectacular! 🙂
Science live makes me enjoy science more, thank you!
I learned a lot about radios again! I really like the topic, and i still think a hand radio or morse code Acellus course would be fun!
I did love the jokes they add in the show
Science live is cool!!
I liked learning about the @
It’s crazy to me that morse code is still useful after all of the technological advancements in the past couple of decades. It seems to be actually timeless.
Sending a big high-five and a sprinkle of confetti your way! 🎉✋(≧▽≦)
I also liked the part about Morse code! It’s very interesting, so, yes, I enjoyed this alot.
The information about the first e-mail was really interesting!
I would like to learn Morse code!
I’ve been wanting to learn morse code!
i love science live.
Can kids invent things?
What kind of living cells do they study?
I liked the part about using the ground as a conductor.
That was very insightful, Thank you!
This was a great science live!
I thought all the things about the robots were very cool
I really enjoyed the story Tobias told!!
This was a very interesting fun science live I learned a lot.
Very fun! Can’t wait for the next Science Live!
Can’t wait to learn how to invent
morse code is cool!!!
My uncle uses his ham radio from Florida to help during hurricanes!
I think it would have been cooler to use an exclamation point with email!
Amazing science live, great to learn about how ai robots are advancing!
I think it’s interesting that more people don’t try to invent.
Science Live is so cool
Wow!
I love science live!!
Science Live is very fun!
This science live is really cool!
I thought it was cool how Disney made sure the robot did not fall and came up with a different idea .
i like science live. dont know why anyone would want to miss it
I love how things were invented in the world. Everything has its own unique way it was invented.
What is the difference between a dot and a dash in Morse code, and how do they represent letters?
I really enjoyed the morse code. I am into radios and the operation of them so this was right up my alley!!!
Teaching robots to fall without hurting themselves is very interesting and smart idea.
I love science live!!!
Bode C* Where can I find the courage to invent something?
I’m very excited to watch this! Robots are interesting to me.
Inventing does not mean succeeding on the first attempt, its innovation and facing adversity but pushing through it anyway. Just because you don’t succeed the first time doesn’t mean you give up.
I find inventions really interesting and would love to invent something and patent it myself one day
Who invented acellus gold?
Thank you for providing the scholarship! I am excited to learn more about how to invent.
My dad has a ham radio license. And we use the CB in our motorhome for traffic.
The part on morse code and all that was sooo cool
I loved learning about Morse Code this Science Live!
i always watch science live
Thanks so much! That was quite interesting!
Acellus is so helpful for those who have trouble comprehending information a nd focusing!! I love it, it has helped me so much.
The robots fell cool with their poses.
I really love these incredible videos.
love r51
Morse code is cool
Science Live is great!
I love these live streams! Keep them up
I thought the robot segment was awesome. My queston is how did they program the robots to avoid those key areas and how they can move.
When was Morse code invented? How many people use it today?
Morse code is so interesting!
The end of the show is always so cool
I really think that this science live was fun! I’ve enjoyed it very much this week.
At first I did not like vectored instructions but I understand now how it helps me. Sometimes I need to go over some math problems but vectored instruction always helps when I do. It`s pretty cool that it can pick up when you may need a little help. I really enjoy all the help I get here.
Every live just keeps getting better and better!!
Seeing things through microscope is really cool. I use one to look at insects and other things up close. The falling reboot is really neat and creative. Seeing all the possibilities is really encouraging. Falling in style can be really good for the robots. Exciting to me.
I loved the part about doers!
Loved learning about Morse code!
Morse code is so cool
Do you know how morse code worked on big ships in the ocean without phone poles?
When the robots are starting to fall can they catch their balance and not fall, or somehow pick themselves back up without needing to be picked up by a person? Science Live and Acellus is the best school in the world!
I think Morse code would be a fun class!
Hi! Really great video! Learning about morse code is so fascinating, I’ve always found it interesting.
I love how you guys are so generous
Hi Lealand from Tennessee
I thought it was cool how researchers have created a new dual light microscope.
science live is always super interesting!
I took a young inventors class at co-op this year and loved it!
Science is my favorite subject
Science live is the best.
How do they make the robot fall in a certain position
Love the science lives.
I wonder how Thomas Edison could send and receive so many messages on one wire. I like learning the sequence of inventions. Thank you!
Morse code is very interesting and unique! I wonder how you say super long sentences and words.
Do you guys have a favorite invention that really interests you? It is amazing how inventions improve and upgrade throughout the years.
The way the robot fell was pretty cool
The robot section of falling was so interesting. I loved the way he falls with such good recovery.