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!
Why are there always so many comments on every video right after it comes out? It’s CRAZY 😲
So excited for the sign language class!!!
Thank you Dr. Billings
this video was very interesting and educational!
It’s fascinating how far we’ve come with our phones today.
so cool!!!!
Hope R51 gets well soon.
The Edison Effect is very interesting, cant wait for the next science live video!
Thank you Dr. Billings
This is Breakthrough Moments in Science with Docter Roger Billings. Today’s episode is about the vacuum tube.
I love science live so much😎👏🐱💻👀😃😊.
my favorite time of the week!
Another great episode like always!!!
Woohoo Acellus time!
I love the first guy’s jokes!
*Who invented the first lightbulb before Edison?
The new sign language class sounds interesting and cool!!
Roger explains science so well!
I love learning about Thomas Eddison in science!
I look forward to taking the ASL course sometime.
Hello. Honestly, it’s kind of sad that this is the last Science Live of 2025, but I’m excited to see what changes in Science Live for 2026.
This episode was really interesting, learning about the new space telescope, the i-phone, and the Edison Effect.
Researchers at Washington State University have discovered a hidden molecular “switch” that certain viruses depend on to invade cells. It was found by, over thousands of cell interactions, what could be used to defend against these viruses.
Loved the live! Happy holidays from Texas!!
2025 SCIENCE LIVE!!!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS LOVELY YEAR!!!!
Sooo sad that you have to leave for 2 weeks! Happy Holidays! You guys are great!
hey this is Alex “if life gives you fire-flies make lemons!”
I’m such a fan of science LIVE!!!!!!:)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I love Science Live!
LOVE science live! i look foward to it so much every week.😁
What first inspired Roger Billings to work with Hydrogen??
hope you guys have a great christmas break!
What does IST stand for?
Such a great video!🤩 Thank you so much!😊
Wow, last episode of 2025 already?! Where did the time go? Happy holidays everyone!
I’ve always thought the Edison effect was pretty interesting honestly.
What a great way to end the 2025 year of science live!!
2027 isn’t that far away, we’ll just have to wait a year for the telescope to launch
Happy new years and Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this, hope everyone has great holidays! super fun episode!
Can’t wait to learn some sign language! 🤩
Love every single one of these videos. I learn so much!
I love Science Live and I can’t wait for the next one.
R-51 is the best!
SEE YOU IN 2026!
I’m excited for the new ASL course! I previously took an ASL course with a different program, but they didn’t have any additional courses after the introduction course. Thank you Acellus!
See you guys in 2026!
Science live is awesome. Happy Holidays!🎄
I never knew that about the phone and I thought was really cool and Happy Holidays and New Year.
Dear Dr Rogger Billings I loved this past years Science live it changed my life and tell r-51 that he
is the best.
I’m so excited to see all the different ways Acellus continues to grow and continues to present more and more opportunity’s to our education system.
I love science live Acellus is the best of the best!!!!!!!!
excited for our holiday break and the science live today.
Acellus is most definitely probably the best homeschool curricular!!
I liked learning about the development of Iphones, I always hear my parents talk about how they had to communicate with friends when they were my age and it makes me wonder what it will be like when I am their age.
I will definitly add the sign language class to my studies. Thank you for adding it! Acellus is amazing
Happy Holidays
hello from Louiaiana.
science live is the best
Happy Holidays. Love Science Live
I’ve learned a lot since starting Acellus.
Thanks for the science live !!!! And merry Christmas!!!!
Acellus is awesome!
I like your jacket.
Merry Christmas from Texas!
I love acellus academy is the coolest and fun school
I love R 51 and science live can`t wait for the next one to come out
These science lives have provided a whole new perspective on things!
That is an awesome story about Steve Jobs.
I love acellus!!
I loved the live!!! I am so excited for the ASL class it sounds like so much fun!!!!
It was interesting learning about Edison and electricity.
I can’t wait until next year! I am so excited! And the new sign language class sounds so cool.
Wow, that was a great show happy new year!
The new class looks fun!
I love my school ACELLUS!
I love Acellus!
I loved learning about the Edison Effect!
Happy holidays! Have a wonderful Christmas and thank you for the science live!
The Edison effect is so interesting! Happy holidays!
i ❤️ acellus
Thank you so much Acellus team for taking the time to make these every week! The Edison Effect is so fascinating, thank you for teaching us about it! I hope everyone has a great winter break, see you next year!
Happy Holidays everyone.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you Acellus!
I love these classes they are my fav part of the day !!
when will the Acellus backpack be in stock.
I love Acellus and Science Live.
Could you make a scottish history class?
I hope you’all have a Merry Christmas! I hope it snows!
🎉🧑🎄☃️🦣🧋
I can’t wait to see the next year of science lives, and what new advancements in science are made
I love Acellus, best science live!
Interesting I enjoyed watching this with my dad
i love your science live its really cool and it makes a diference in my day
Can’t wait to start ASL next term!
Science live is so much fun!!
I didn’t, realize how beautiful the galaxy was until I saw this video!
I love you 💕😘
I love watching science live, so cool!.
How do you guys film these livestreams??
This is so interesting. I enjoyed this Science Live!
once again, incredible livestream, could you one day show how you film the lives?
I really like this science live, Merry Christmas
The new ASL course looks very good.
I LOVE ACELLUS.
Watching from Grandview, Texas.
science live is the best
I love R51.
I love learning!
Somebody please give R-51 a hug for me. 🙁
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I can’t wait to see r-51’s shenanigans in 2026! Thank you for a great year of Science Live fun!
I love watching Science Live and learning about so many different things.
Acellus is awesome!
Acellus is so fun!!!
I really enjoyed this week’s live!
I didn’t know that about Apple
Acellus is the best I love acellus so much.
Who else wants a R-51 toy or plushy I know I do please if anyone of you see this and you agree say yes or tell me some of your ideas with R-51 🙂 🙂
It was fascinating to learn about the progression of the iPhone! Merry Christmas!
I love Science Live!
I love R-51 he is so funny.
I liked learning about Thomas Edison.
fantastic Science Live!
I am ready to see what the New Year brings for Acellus
One of my class mates take ASL I am going to take it this year and I also can’t wait to see more with Thomas Eddison he is so interesting to learn about as well as Bill Lear and his awesome jets
I really enjoyed this one, thank you. Happy Christmas everyone!
Science live is the best!!!!
I love R 51
Edison had some amazing inventions
Acellus is amazing! i loved it ever since i have started
Science Live is always so educational!
I always love Science Live and R-51.
A sign language class is a awesome!! I haven’t seen anything like this but I think it’s a great idea!
The book published by the 15 year old was exciting to hear about. Happy Holidays!
I love Acellus! I just finished sign language 1 class. Merry Christmas!!!!
When I heard vacuum tube I was thinking of a vacuum that cleans your house, and r-51 was so funny and I hope he gets much better.
I didn’t know Thomas Edison discovered vacuum tubes?! That’s amazing!
I loved this episode of science live! I always love tuning in and learning more about science. My favorite science type is technology, it has always made me wonder more about the future. I loved learning about the technology spotlight today! And R-51 was sooooooooooo funny!
You learn something new every week!
I love ACELLUS!!!!!!!!
This was a great final episode of the year!
Thank you so much for all your hard work to make these science live videos for us.
Wishing everyone happy holidays and a wonderful New Year!
In this whole time I thought that Thomas Edison was the one who created the light bulb, but now I know that he was the one who saw an effect that maybe he could make the light bulb to work much better.
I liked the episode!
SO COOL!
I really enjoyed Science live. I’m impressed that a student younger than me published a book and it is for sale on Amazon.
we love r 51
I’m excited about the new sign language class.
SAME!!!! Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!
I love learning about Edison. The one who allowed for electricity to be abundant in all of our homes.
Acellus is really cool
I love science live!
There’s going to be a sign language class!!
Science live is awesome!
acellus is so fun
Acellus is the best!!!
Acellus and science live are great
R51 is so funny
Have a happy jolly Christmas!
I love science live!
Science live is so fun!
Greetings from North Carolina!
This last episode of science live in 2025 was awesome! I’m so impressed with the girl publishing her book at 15 – way to go!!
I learned things about Thomas Edison I didn’t know
can r51 have a class?
hahahaha😆😉
AHHHHH LAST SCIENCE LIVE OF 20255555
I want to be in all his classes!!! lol🥳let the the fun start!!!!
Ha Ha, That would be so much fun! But I wonder what he would teach? Ha, maybe he would teach about how he invented everything!!!
what’s the coolest invention you’ve ever made and why?
I love how history goes hand in hand with science! We couldn’t have one without the other!
I hope the new sign language class is extremely fun and also the R-51 had me laughing so much
Happy holidays I love acellus!
I love acellus academy is the coolest and fun school
As always, a fabulous Science Live. See you in the new year!
Did the touch screen on the Iphone take as much effort to press as the stylist?
I liked learning about the original IPhone.
I love learning about Thomas Edison.
I enjoyed this live , it was interesting and funny. Happy Holidays!
R-51 is so funny 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🥹
R-51 is THE funniest person I’ve ever seen😂
I love a Acellus its my first time being able to comment.
r51 is so funny
Thank you Dr.B for teaching us cool exciting stuff this year, can’t wait to see you in the new year and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
R-51 is the best!
I loved this week’s episode. My favorite part was the technology spotlight with Dr. John. Learning about how NASA just finished assembling the new space telescope is amazing. The whole year I’ve been wondering when they could finally see what new interesting photos this telescope can see. Knowing that they are going to take photos of the milky way galaxy is extremely exciting to me because we may be able to know if there really is another galaxy just like ours! I love this week’s episode Mr. B. Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays! Another awesome episode! I don’t think I’ll be able to wait that long until the next Science Live!
This is the best homeschooling program ever I learn so many new things everytime.
The ASL course is really cool and sounds super interesting! This was a great Science Live.
I learned so much in this Science Live from the new ASL course to Thomas Edison’s findings!
It’s interesting for me to see old phones like the Nokia phone, I myself have never owned one of those older phones, but I have used them because my grandparents still use phones like that to this day.
I learn something new every Science Live. Merry Christmas!
Coming from Tennessee. Great Science live today.
Thank you for providing these science lives for us. I enjoy learning new things.
This was a really interesting Science Live! I loved learning about the Edison Effect. Thank you, Acellus!