The Edison Effect
December 17, 2025 • EPISODE 291
What if Thomas Edison’s greatest discovery wasn’t the light bulb? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings explores the Edison Effect and how Edison’s experiments paved the way for electron tubes and modern electronics. Discover why this overlooked breakthrough mattered then—and why it still shapes technology today.
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 »
I love science!
I’m glad R51 is ok !!!!
Science Live is awesome!!
This is great!
I liked learning about the new telescope and the presentation on the iphone keyboard was very interesting.
Acellus academy is making school fun again
I love science live!!
The phone part is so cool
thanks you guys for giving me the opportunity to be homeschooled!!
I really liked this live!! It was interesting and funny!!
Very educational.
Happy Holidays!!!
Science live always keeps me on my toes!!!
GREAT SHOW! There was so much information
i love science live
R-51 probably mentored Pajet
I wear hearing aids so looking forward to another ASL class.
My favorite part was learning about the Thomas Edison effect!!!
so funny happy holidays ❤️🎉
This episode was great, loved learning about the Edison effect and about how the first iPhone was created!
I really enjoyed the video you shared and I Love R51! Happy Holidays!🎄
Happy holidays!
What was the most challenging part for Thomas Edison when he built the more efficient lightbulb?
I enjoyed learning about how touch screens were made.
I always learn something new in these videos.
Love it! Great as always!!
I love this, thank you!
R-51 was so funny
I am really excited for the ASL class! I think ASL is very beneficial for people to learn!
I loved Dr. Tobias segment today! Have a merry Christmas, and if you don’t celebrate have a merry day!
Watching from Chicago!
this is my second science live and im really enjoying them!
It was interesting learning about Edison and electricity
Loveee this school! And the lives are just the cherry on top.
This was an excellent video! Acellus is awesome!!
The “PDA” device looks so interesting, I would have honestly wanted it for the stylist because I’m very interested in the idea of old 2000s inventions and toys and music so I find it very interesting how we went from that kind of phone to an Iphone! It’s so insane how our generation is so different compared to other generations.
Sooo cool!!!
Really interesting lesson on the Edison Effect and how it helped shape vacuum tubes and electronics.
excited for the new sign language class!
This is the best.
It’s really cool how they use AI to figure out how to make treatments faster!
Thank you for teaching us about the discovery of the Edison Effect.
How do you do it every time. You guys are awesome!!!!
Great Lesson learned so much Thank you.
Watched from Idaho
Thank you for the video. This has inspired me to learn morse code.
I <3 Science
Hi my name is Sagal and I’m so happy and i love this is awesome and amazing ☺️☺️☺️☺️😊🤗🤗🤗🤗
I certainly do love R 51. He can be really funny at times and that’s one reason I like him so much.
merry christmas
Happy holidays thank you for a great year🥰
I can’t wait for that telescope to luanch. Merry Christmas! 🎄
acellus academy is the best homeschooling progam
The space telescope is so wonderful!
Excited to watch
When is the Telescope going to be launched?
I love Acellus!
Amazing science live!! Was very cool and interesting
Today I learnt about Thomas Edison and his invention. Thanks Acellus, I am learning.
I’m from Georgia I love science live.
Steve Jobs was brilliant.
it’s Almost Christmas!
Vacuum tubes are pretty cool!
Nasa’s new telescope looks awesome!
How the iPhone keyboard works is really cool.
Is the keyboard in a modern day phone the same as it was in the early 2000’s?
I want to be an inventor too!
The science about the iPhone is really interesting!
thank you I love these lives!
Watching from Canada!
Amazing episode to end of 2025, Happy holidays.
Thankyou so much for adding a new Sign Language course! Can’t wait to try it out!
we love r. 51
Once again amazing live today.
The new class sounds so cool I can’t wait.
Merry christmas
Loved the part about making the touchscreen for the first iPhone, that was interesting.
I loved today’s lesson
Hello from Knoxville and Merry Christmas!
Thank you very much!!! Have a great day!
Thomas Edison was a very smart man. I’ve learned a lot about him.
This weeks Science Live was amazing! Merry Christmas everyone!
Educational as always!!
I like science
I ❤️ acellus!!!!
R 51 was really funny this episode and I can’t wait to watch the next one next week. Happy holidays.
Have A Great Christmas!
Acellus Academy is the best homeschooling program tysm!
I love Acellus so much!!!
Merry Christmas and happy new year!!!!!
Thanks for the lesson
Always interesting! Thank you and enjoy the holidays!
Yay I am so glad we will now have ASL 2.
amazing! i love acellus.
It was fun to hear about Edison! Happy Holidays.
What made Edison such a successful inventor?
Excited for the ASL II class! Awesome episode guys, interesting and entertaining as usual.
It was really neat to learn more about how the vacuum tube was created by Thomas Edison.
I’m so glad I get the chance to work at my own pace with Acellus!
I enjoyed learning about NASA’s new space telescope in today’s “Technology Spotlight”.
R-51 is hilarious and always brings a smile!
Acellus is the best thing that ever happened to me. <3 And I thank my parents for that. Merry Christmas!!!!!!!
Is Acellus homeschool a purely online curriculum or are there in-person locations for classes?
How many kilometers long is the Milky Way galaxy, and who was the first person in the world to discover it?
The Edison effect is truly amazing, now we know about the new telescope how the first touch screen iphone was made, and all the events that led up to the Edison effect and what the eEdison e ffect did for science in the future.
I love homeschooling with Acellus!
My favorite part of learning the alphabet is learning through signs for each letter, so I am really excited to see an addition od even more ASL!
Happy Holiday’s from Georgia.
Today I learned that electricity flows from the negative to positive side, and that when there is something unexplainable in science, there is normally a chance to invent something.
Happy hoildays everyone!!
Hello from Japan! Thank you for today’s live, I always watch them with my sister and enjoy time together while learning.
I enjoyed learning about the Edison effect and how it helped with radio waves!
hello from New York!
I can’t wait to learn sign language!
I love learning new thing every Wednesday and getting to see Roger and Pejet. The tecnology about the phone it amazing!
Happy Holidays everyone
Last science live of the year! Happy holidays yall!
I liked science live today. I learned alot. Thanks
Cant wait until Science Live 2026!
I take American Sign language I love it I can’t wait for the next coarse
Sometimes I wonder how people think of things to invent.
I love R51 I look forward to hearing him everyweek. Merry Christmas!
“I have not failed, I found 10,000 ways to not make a light bulb” -Thomas Edison
Amazing week this time, loved learning about the light bulb.
I always look forward to science live!!!!
I believe in r-51!
I took ASL when I was in public school still before Acellus and I think that is a very helpful language to learn.
Merry Christmas!
Edison is genius.
I love to watch these every week!!
The Edison effect is pretty cool!!!
Acellus is a very good homeschooling program it teaches you art, math and more.
Edison is so cool and all the inventions he made are cool to.
really enjoyed this live! hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
I’m excited to hear more about Science Live for credit and what the requirements will be
Wow! How amazing! The technology behind a phone is so complex and though through.
Love these!
I love when DR. B tells story’s!
Never heard of the Edison effect before this somehow. Incredible!
Thank your for today’s science Live. I thought the Edison effect was really fascinating that would help many more inventions.
I love Acellus live!
I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas!
thank you for helping kids worldwide
Great episode!
Happy holidays everyone!
Hello,
Watching from Italy. I was wondering when NASA made their new space telescope how long did it take them to build it?
I love Science Lives and really enjoy seeing everyone every week and listening to the topics.
Happy Holidays Acellus Family.
Happy Holidays from Minnesota!
I’ve always been interested in Thomas Edison!
Happy Holidays! Really fun science live, thank yall!
Love the live. Keep up the great work.
Good morning, from Texas. Enjoying Acellus.
I started ASL this year with Acellus. It’s one of my favorite courses.
This was very informative! Happy new year see you in a couple weeks!
Thanks for such a great end of year review merry christmas!
Favorite time of the week! I love Science live!
Merry Christmas to all my acellus classmates.
Another great lesson on electricity, awesome! See you next year!
This week’s live was very interesting, I had so much fun watching it.
Love from Vietnam.
I Love Science Live!!!!
Acellus is amazing!!!
I always love logging onto to Science Live! I always learn something new and interesting!
This is my 4th Christmas with Acellus. Merry Christmas to everyone!
Merry Christmas to all the teachers and staff at Acellus!
Dr billings and Pajeet are such a great duo together
The new telescope looks like its going to be awesome!
The new sign language class is awesome.
Acellus is the best homeschool program ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The new NASA telescope looks cool.
This week’s Science Live was very impressive.
I love science live!
Thankful for light bulbs
Thank you for giving us a break for Christmas and New Year. I look forward to watching what you have planned for 2026 for Science Live.
Happy Holidays!
Next year I’m gonna do ASL
You always have the neatest lessons on these video’s. I think Edison is so amazing with what he was able to invent. Thanks!
I am reading about Thomas Edison. Thank you for this lesson video about Edison!