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 »



Watching from Ohio, Love this science live!
I liked the very small part where he talked about the telescope launching in 2027
I am a new Acellus student but I have definitely grown to look forward to these lessons. I love learning!
Science Live is always so interesting!
always look forward to the science lives, thank you from Chicago!
I am ecstatic about the second ASL class being added! I just finished the first one a few days ago and it was one of my favourite classes. I wanted to continue my studies in that subject and now I have a path do to do so! Thank you!
Thank you so much for these educational videos!
Hello from Virginia have a great day^^
Acellus Academy is the best homeschooling program
This was a very fun episode of the science live. I learned a lot from it. Such an amazing homeschool program Acellus is.
I love science live!
Enjoyed the live.
How was electricity thought up?
FIRST TIME ACELLUS SCIENCE LIVE!!!!!!!! Merry Christmas!!!
Very excited about the ASL course!
Thank you for everything you do. Happy Holidays to everyone! See you next year.
R51 is so funny. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Merry Christmas and I love science lives happy new year!!!
I look forward to Science Live each week.
Edison was a believer that had work and tenacity navigates the path to success.
We love using AI for things now! So much quicker.
I agree that Acellus is THE BEST Homeschooling program ever. Acellus has helped me so much since my last school. Love Acellus so much!!!
Imagine being in the audience and just laughing uncontrollably at the end of the presentation.
That was an inspiring speech!
Hello from Florida. I think Thomas Edison is a really interesting person.
Can not wait to see y’all back after the holidays!!!!!!!!!
i hope everyone (including r51) has great day.
How long does it take to learn ASL?
where would the word be without light bullbs
I just notice that this weeks episode is number 291. Any big plans for episode 300? That seems like a big milestone!
Happy holidays and thanks for the Science live!
Oh chemistree Oh chemistree. lol
I love what I watched this is amazing and I never knew schools and programs were this cool
Thomas Eddison is so cool. 🙂
R-51 was so funny he cracked me up. Can’t wait to see what you guys have in store for next year!
Hope everyone has a good holiday from Texas
I love the positivity in todays video.
Happy holidays and love the science lives they are very interesting.
Amazing!! Happy holidays!
Happy holidays!!!
I am enjoying the homeschool program
We love Acellus!!
what a cool live! Happy holidays🎄
Oh Chemistry 🧑🔬🎄 Oh Chemistry 🧑🔬🎄 That made me laugh so hard 🤣
Another amazing video as always!!!
Good Science Live! Can’t wait until the next one!
Acellus is by farthe best homeschool program!
I love this program!
The Eddison effect by Thomas Eddison is one of my favorite effects because it really shows the power of what vacuum tubes can do.
Liked learning about how the iphone keybord was created
awesome!!
I LOVE SCIENCE LIVE!!!!
Awesome science live this week!
Hi from Massachusetts another fun science live the new telescope at NASA sounds awesome
Hello from Minnesota
The Eddison Effect is so interesting!
happy new year. Cant wait for whats next in 2026. Science live has been a part of our family for awhile now;
An AI class would be a great addition to Accellus
Amazing science live
r-51 is sooooo funny
Love these videos
Wow that NASA camera seems pretty cool!
I really loved learning about the Eddison effect!!! Science live is awesome.
I FEEL SO BAD FOR R-51 WE SHOULDNT HAVE LEFT HIMM😭😭😭
YEA ME TO😥😖😞😩🤖
Very cool to learn about the development of the iPhone keyboard!
I think coming up with the Iphone was really cool because it must’ve been cool to go from typing on buttons then to just typing on the screen. This live was really fun to watch!
I love science live! And poor r-51….
Sign language seems to be a rather niche form of communication that would be beneficial for many more people to know!
acellus have helped me so much! and i will always love it !!!!!!
What if a spaceship went out of our universe and went to a black hole and went In it and recorded it and we found a whole nother universe galaxy and different planets?
How big was the IPhone when it was invented?
Merry Christmas
I think it’s cool that ASL is going to be offered soon. I’m excited!
cool episode! Now I want a telescope so I can see the sky from my room.
The new class looks very interesting.
Thank you!
Edison did a lot for us!
This was such a great episode. Merry Christmas.
you guys are awesome
when did you have the idea for the new Sign language course? I am so excited!! I love sign Language because it is a way to communicate without talking!
Hooray for Science Live!
I enjoyed this week’s live! Thank you Acellus!!
Love science live.
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!