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 »
Happy Holidays everyone!
I love Science Live can’t wait till next year.
Happy Holidays!!!
The part with the fake phone call was funny.
Thank you for hosting these weekly! I am always excited to learn more things with Mr. B. My favorite thing about this live was learning about the iphone! I hope everyone has an amazing holiday!
Happy Holidays🎄🎉!
R-51 is hilarious.
It was fun watching❤️🥳
I really enjoy Dr. Billings stories. He makes them exciting to listen to. Great stories about Thomas Edison tonight
Happy Holidays, Roger Billings! I’m excited to tune in on the first week of January and continue to learn about the inventioneering process!
Another great Science Live, I can’t wait till next time!
Thank you for Science Live. We enjoyed it every week!
Good bye Acellus its ben a good year
These Science Lives were amazing, can’t wait for them to come back. Have a great Christmas!
Happy Chrismas to all of Acellus!
Such a great live! Thank you all for the memories!!
See you all in 2026!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope everyone has a great break and Happy Holidays to all.
I loved this science live
Ill be waiting for the surprises of next year.
see you all in 2026!! happy holidays! 😀
Science Live for credit!
I love Acellus and Science Live
BYE see you next year. Happy holiday.
Loved the live tonight!I think it’s really cool that Acellus has an ASL course, see you guys in 2026!
Science live is always intriguing.
We’ll miss you so much, happy holidays to all, and to all a good night. =D
R51 so smart
Thanks for another great video!! Can’t wait till next year after break
Thank you for this week episode I really enjoyed it! Happy holidays to everyone!
I learned so much today! I can’t wait for next year! Happy Holidays!
Science live is amazing! Happy holidays!
Hope you guys have a merry Christmas everyone! And that R 51 skit was hilarious!
Hope yall have a merry christmas! Awesome live this week.
Happy Holidays and cool live today!
Thank you again Acellus!! Happy holidays.
We always enjoy what R51 has to say. Have a great Christmas and New Year.
It’s crazy how far back the phone dates back and how it used to look like back then and now!!
Thanks for another great Science LIVE. Happy Holidays!
How far can alternating currents travel?
Can’t wait for 2026!!!
I love these science lives
Thank you Mr. Billings for the daily knowledge! I look forward to your next episode of Science Live.
Cant wait to watch more in 2026!
what pet does Dr Rogers have
Happy Holidays!
R-51 is so funny
I really like Science Live. Can not wait until next time.
Bye, see you all in 2026!!
Aww, we love you too R 51!!
Can’t wait to see you next year also that was a great science live
I like R-51!
Happy holidays
Area 51 always makes me laugh 😂
We love you too, R-51! Happy Holidays everyone!
I am so excited for next year
Learn something new every week. Looking forward to 2026.
Hi from New Jersey!!! Happy holidays!
We all love r-51!!!
Roger Billings scholarship program is a year round present Happy Holidays Roger Billings.
Hello from Thailand! I always thought Thomas Edison was the one to invent the lightbulb, but know I understand that an invention comes from many people and processes before it comes out as a usable product, learning about how a lightbulb works was also so interesting! Great Live!
R 51 Is So Funny!!!
See everyone in 2026!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!
Happy holidays! See you next year bye!
WE LUV R.51
Happy holidays from Tennessee!
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to every one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R-51 is HILARIOUS 🤣!
I really enjoy Science Live.
Good night and christmas and new year see you the first wednesday of 2026!
I love you too R-51!!
I Just LOVE roger billings hes my hero
R-51 is always so funny! Great live.
See y’all in 2026
We will miss you!
See you guys next year!
This was an amazing science live!
Good night!
Happy new year too
See you in 2026!
r-51 is so awesome
We love you too r51
Thank you for inspiring us about Thomas Edison’s lightbulb.
R51 is so sweet
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Hope everyone has a great holiday.
This was really interesting. Thanks.
We love R 51
Best science live yet
Of course we love R-51!
Happy Holidays to everyone!
bye see you in 2026!
Happy winter break, everyone!
Happy new years
I love r 51
We like R-51! Who agree!
Hi from New Mexico 🙂 I enjoyed science live tonight!
I cant wait to see what the next science live is! these are always a blast!
please inform us on the deep hole project
I loved this live!!!
you rock r51
But r 51 is my favorite
“And with that the 2025 season comes to an end, Goodnight”- Sam Levitt
See y’all next year!!!!
R-51! is the best.
R51 is so funny!
Thank you all for the hard work and time that it takes to bring these lives to us every week. I enjoyed this week’s as always, especially learning about the origins of the iPhone.
We love you too R51!!!
have a great merry christmas R-51
I really like seeing R-51 every week thanks!!
Could you please read my comment out loud
Even though R-51 is joking right now would it ever be possible to have a device that can send messages back in time?
This is so funny!!! Happy holidays!!
What do you find most interesting about radio waves?
Oliver says he loves the Area 51 and Roger Billings!
Hello from Connecticut.
Poor R51
I LOVED THIS
Hi from Colorado! So thankful to hear about ASL 2!! Thank you so much for making it
I love Science Live
This was so fascinating I really enjoyed it.
Hello from Connecticut. I saw someone else in the comments bring up a good question, I’m actually curious how cell phones and most modern technology in general would’ve worked back then too.
This science live was amazing!!
Hello from Long Beach, this episode was pretty funny!
I like science live
Merry Christmas R51 I hope you have a fun Christmas in Area 51!
Very interesting! happy holidays!
R51 is so funny
r 51 is so funny, i love this video
So good it was amazing
That was amazing that Thomas Edison figured out how to put all those inventions together to make the light bulb work and make it practical. I also really enjoyed how they came up with the iphone. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New years everyone! I hope your year goes on with joy, happiness, and peace!
Its hilarious how AREA-51 is always taking credit for inventions they didn’t make- imagine if they got it published? There would be a lot of paperwork…
Thomas Edison’s knowledge of the light bulb was clever!!! It clearly took a lot of people and tons of thinking to get the idea perfect.
Thomas Edison’s knowledge of the light bulb was clever. It took a lot of people to make it up.
amazing real great stuff
Merry Christmas and happy new year. Hope everybody gets a chance to hang out with their friends and family. Thank you, Roger Billings and miss Monet for everything u do happy holidays.
Science live is always great! MERRY CHRISMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!!!!!
Hello from Honduras
So funny!
I felt bad for R-51 because Thomas Eddison did not remember R-51. ): But R-51 is still funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
This was fun to watch Have a Merry Christmas everyone !!!
Really cool👍🏼
So interesting!
This live was so interesting to watch.
Sending best December wishes to you all, enjoy your time!
Hope everyone at Acellus and the students have a great Christmas!!!!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R 51 we 💞 you too!
You too! Have a happy jolly Christmas, Kegan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
r51 is so funny I wish he was a real person.
Thanks again for the live! Have a merry christmas!
Very interesting! happy holidays!
this skit is so funny
When is the Ham Radio class coming out?
Hi from North Carolina!!
Wow!
Yessss! i love science live!
I’m looking forward to seeing pictures from the new space telescope.
Hi from New York science live is so fun Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!
I love r-51!
Comment love science live
Love it! Thank you for the inspiration
*sad violin music* I went to the hospital, 😣, BUT NOW I AM OKAY!!!
Oh he’s hurt I didn’t know
Loved learning about the story on how the iphone was created, learned some interesting new facts today!
Love today’s science live!
I love r51 and science live
Hi from Texas! R-51 is funny and Thomas Eddison sounds really smart. I liked the story of the light bulb.
Really cool about the idea of the iphone. Revoloutionized America, bro
Hello from Texas! Hope everyone has a happy holiday!
Hello. This science live was so in fun and interesting.
science rocks!
I love learning about Thomas Edison
I’m really impressed by the lightbulb!!
I am glad your okay.
Science is the best
Science live is so cool!
How is Thomas Edison event light bulb
This is so fun.
Hi from CA!
learning so much , love this !!!
Hello from Texas!
This science lecture was helpful and explained the topic in a clear way. It helped me better understand the material.
how may things did Thomas Edison invent
Area 51 is so funny
watching
I’ve seen eddison light bulbs in the store, are they named that because of the particular design inside that light bulb ?
I’m grateful the keyboard on the phone today makes typing a lot easier for the user. I remember seeing my mom’s old phone with the physical small keyboard with it. If i remember correctly, the buttons were really small 😅
hahahahah
Hello from West Virginia! really loved todays episode.
Poor r51 🙁