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 »
Today’s lesson was interesting, thank you Dr. Billings!
Happy Holidays!
I love that were gonna get a new telescope that takes better pictures and has better view!
Happy holidays everyone from Owen in Reno!
Edison’s perseverance was impressive.
That was so cool! And the ending was funny haha!
Today live what neat to learn about apples keyboard and how they were able to fix the issue and find a solution. I really liked learning about the Edison Effect and about the filament in the bulb temperature being 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit. Also the vacuum diode which was a one way flow of electrons in a vacuum. Merry CHRISTMAS to everyone.
Steve Jobs was really ahead of his time.
My second comment tonight:)
How awesome that not only do you help us with tuition when we watch these awesome episodes, but next year we will be receiving Science credits!!!! Yay!! So cool:) Thank you!!
I enjoyed learning the history behind the first iPhone. Also enjoyed the photos from the Hubble telescope. R-51 cracks me up.
R-51 is so funny
I love looking at the pictures from the hubble telescope online, I can wait to see the new images and videos this new one produces!
I love learning through Science Live!
I thought it was awesome that you talked about Washington State University (Go Cougs!) because my sister graduated from there and I have been there many times!!!
Happy holidays! and love all the info!
So excited about the ASL course!!! Thank you:) Happy Holidays to all:)
Thank you for this opportunity and everyone stay safe and have a wonderful holiday.
I love hearing about space telescopes and how we are continually advancing to get better and clearer images. Merry Christmas.
I’m so happy that they made ASL 2❤️.
What made you so interested in hydrogen?
I’m very excited for the new class.
Science live is amazing. I love learning from all of you.
Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to you Dr. Roger Billings, Lady Pajet Monet and the acellus staff and teachers! See all of you guys in 2026! Thank you for the amazing year Dr. Billings:]
I love science live ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
oh chemistry, oh chemistry! thank you Dr. bilings.
Happy Holidays from Texas!
Hello from Washington
thanks Dr billings
happy holidays everyone!
Wow! I’m so excited for the new ASL class. I’m currently in the first ASL course.
What are the operational costs of the new telescope?
Dr. Tobias is talking about how the first iPhone was made but, how big was the first iPhone?
Happy holidays, Acellus family! My family and I love watching Science Live. I am hoping they will post the pictures with the telescope; this is so exciting. I was really intrigued by The Edison Effect. Thank you for sharing with us!
What are some other uses for Hydrogen?
I’m happy about the new ASL course. Happy holidays!
The Edison Effect sounds amazing! Are there more inventions that Thomas Edison made that he isn’t as well known for?
It’s hilarious that R51 called Thomas Edison from the past and told him he was his student abut Edison completely denied it.
The Morse code was amazing and the 8 ft Nancy Grace Roman telescope was interesting! I learned a lot from this video.
I loved learning about phones. And r51 is always one of my favorite parts.
Its always interesting to learn about the origins of cell phone technology and development.
My family and I like to look at images from the Hubble telescope. I hope they post images from this new and improved telescope.
Love seeing R-51, happy holidays.
It so cool that there is a new sign language course! looking forward to taking that course!
It was a breakthrough when Dr. Roger Billings started Acellus.
Now I know that NASA is creating a new telescope using different technology to search for new planets.
I’m currently doing ASL, just started it a few weeks ago and I’m doing pretty well. I just want to say… R51, even if no one else likes you, I do lol. And Merry Christmas everyone!!
Science live is fun. And there’s always a lot of cool facts.
Hope everyone has a happy holidays!
I really like it and my kitty likes it too. He was snuggling with me. I really like it. You did a really good job.
Happy holidays from El Paso
I’m so excited for the new ASL class with Ms. Donnie, it’s so funny because earlier this week I was thinking how I really wish I could just finish up connecting all of my vocabulary so that I can be more fluent! Very excited for a new year of science live I have been working so hard in my studies recently and it’s really been paying off! I got almost perfect scores in 2 of my midterms, and did good in last year’s state testing. Thank you Acellus for all you do if science live hadn’t of been created I wouldn’t get to do a lot of the things I enjoy doing because of the flexibility. Merry Christmas, and Happy new years Acellus team!!
Very cool learning more about Thomas Edison’s inventions and how you are connected to him.
You are very smart R *
Happy holidays and New Year everyone!!!
The new ASL course looks so fun! My mom took ASL in Highschool as her foreign language!
Amazing! I loved the story Tobias told, the way he told it made me want to listen more.
Thomas Edison is so cool! It was so interesting to learn about all of the things that he did. I’m so glad he never gave up!
Thank you Dr Billings for caring about all of us students.
I love watching theese videos every week!
ASL is so awesome! I finished it and now I can talk to deaf people! One of my moms friend has a deaf kid, and now we’re friends because we can talk to each other!
R-51 is the coolest! Happy holidays to everyone!
I love Acellus live!
Happy holidays to everyone!
As always I never get enough of these lives they are very interesting to watch
My twelve year old sister is currently taking ASL classes!
I love watching this video on Edison’s discovery with my mom
I loved learning that Thomas Edison created the first affordable lightbulb.
The first touch screens needed a stylus pen and used pressure to select the letters being typed.
It was interesting learning about the vacuum tube.
I am so excited for the new ASL course!
I never knew that about the keyboard on the iphone!
A new telescope is so exciting!
Happy Holidays!
R51 is funny
Where does the interference in space for the telescope actually come from?
now I will not be able to get this song out of my head
The one way flow of electrons is very interesting.
Area51 thinks he can go back in time and so funny because he thinks he was Thomas Edison’s favorite student and he didn’t even know him. 😂
I like Morse code and big telescope! This is very cool video.
Thomas Edison is really smart and fun to learn about! Merry Christmas everyone!
I am so excited for an ASL class, happy holidays.
This Science Live this week was pretty interesting. Congratulations to Lorelei Fox on publishing a book at such a young age; that is truly amazing! I can’t wait to see what Science Live bring in 2026. Happy Holidays to you all!
I can’t wait to take ASL 2!
Happy Holidays! The making of phones is so interesting!
Happy holidays everyone! I love watching these science lives
Do LED lightbulbs use the same technology as Thomas Edison’s lightbulb did?
How did Thomas Edison create a vacuum in the light bulb?
Thank you for the new knowledge!
Love these videos!! And happy holidays.
Happy Holidays I love Science live
R-51 always cracks me up! Happy holidays!
r-51 is so cool! and happy holidays to those who celebrate!!
I didn’t even know that there were little areas of sensitivity on phone keyboards. It really shows that you can take a “failed” idea and make it into something even better than a new idea!
Happy Holidays, I love science live! Thank you Dr. Billings.
Happy Holiday’s to the Science Live team!!
love R-51. Happy Holidays !
How did Edison manage to stay motivated through all his failed experiments?
Learning about how they made the iphone we know today was really fascinating! can’t wait for the new year of science live!!
Happy holiday to all science live!!! So fun to learn about things!
While trying to create different inventions, how is one supposed to focus on each individual one?
We are grateful for “Project Purple” from Apple!
I am so excited for ASL II !!! Thank you.
That telescope that NASA is gonna launch sounds pretty cool! Too bad we have to wait till next year…
Happy Holidays to the teachers, the students, everyone!
Happy Holidays I love watching science live.
I love this “oh chemistry, oh chemistry.” is iconic and the Area 51! Merry Christmas everyone.
The history of the iphone keyboard was interesting, I didn’t know that.
My mom always likes to use Thomas Edison as an example of how to persevere when things don’t go right the first time.
I never knew chemists had their own holiday song. Wonder what biologists sing. Maybe, Oh Biology, Oh biology… Looking forward to this Science live!
Roger billings is the GOAT
Amazing to see how far the lightbulb has gone, from being small and inefficient to being so common that we color them and put them in our Christmas trees. Merry Christmas everyone!!
Really enjoyed this episode
Happy Holiday everyone! Can’t wait to see you all in 2026.
I’m excited about the new ASL, but will there be a Spanish 3 as well?
I love Science live! I can’t wait to watch this episode
I believe Thomas Edison knows you, R 51
Great Science Live this week! Curious what was the first cell phone called? I love R-51!
What grade levels are allowed to take the ASL courses?
I also look forward to the r-51 parts, its so funny.
Science live is amazing! Happy holidays!!!
thank you for teaching me about thomas edison
Merry Christmas R.51
Happy Holidays!
The new ASL course looks so cool! Congrats!
Happy Holidays! I’m excited for the new ASL course 😀
I loved this episode! I was very interested to hear Dr. Tobias speak explain how smartphones evolved into touchscreen devices, with the keyboard built into the screen to keep the phones smaller. I also enjoyed learning more about Thomas Edison and his incredible inventions.
Merry Christmas to the people of Acellus! 🎄🎁. Hope you all have a good an amazing holiday and a happy new year!
Thanks for the video I love Acellus.
Thomas Edison was a great inventor.
Science live is always educating me on new things.
Tell R-51 I said “See you next year.”
Thank you for this science live and happy holidays!
The part about the keyboards actually really intrigued me!!
Thank you Roger Billings for a fun video! Marry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!
The episode explained how Thomas Edison kept trying many times before succeeding, which showed me the importance of patience, hard work, and not giving up. I liked how the lesson connected this idea to school and everyday life, reminding students to keep trying even when work feels challenging. Overall, it was a meaningful lesson that encouraged me to stay positive and persistent in my learning.
Science live was great this week!
love R51
Thomas Edison was briliant!! its so intresting to learn about him.
I liked Tobias’s part about keyboards on early phones. I thought it was really interesting how they problem solved to make a working keyboard.
I am so excited about about the ASL class!
Happy holidays!!! Great live!
So thankful for Thomas Edison! Without him, we would all be living in the dark!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!! <333
Happy holidays!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
I liked learning about how phones became modernized. Learning more about Edison was cool too
I enjoyed this science live as well as r-51!
Thank you Roger Billings!!!
R-51 is so funny thank you DrB!
Learning about Thomas Edison is very interesting to me to learn about the amazing things he did! Happy holidays to everyone!!
It’s amazing just how far back technology really goes!
The development of the first iPhone was incredible. All the steps it took to achieve success shows how determined those engineers were to realize there goal. Especially with making of a digital keyboard that functioned quickly.
I like space. I am excited about the new telescope.
Happy Christmas Accelus Academy!!!!!
Merry Christmas, Dr Billings!
Happy Holidays and thanks for another great science live episode!!
We look forward to watching science live and learning new things. R51 is so funny, can’t wait to see what he does next.
How is project Deep Hole???? Loving Science Live❗
I love science live and r 51 is sooooo funny
Thomas Edison was a very great genius.
The new ASL class looks so fun, I also love learning about the iPhone.
I had no idea the creation of the iPhone was so complicated. I’m amazed smartphones even exist at all.
Science live is the best, also happy holidays.
WE LOVE YOU TOO R-51!!!!!!💕
I loved how Dr. Tobias explained how IPhones became! It was very interesting!
We are having a fun Holiday season and watching science live every Wednesday is pretty cool. Its fun to learn new things!
hello from florida! i found the visual explanations in this science live very interesting and easy to comprehend. also glad to see r-51 is doing good 🙂
Roger Billings is so smart i wanna learn like him one day! hes so cool too!
Love watching Breakthrough moments in Science.
OH CHEMISTRY OH CHEMISTRY A MERRY SEASON TO YOU
I already made a comment a couple days ago but before I forget, Happy Holidays everyone. I hope everybody has a blessed holiday and even if you don’t celebrate, I hope you have a blessed week! 💜
Merry Christmas from Ohio!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Hanukah to those who celebrate it! 😁
This episode was cool, and I’m looking forward to the next one. Merry Christmas and happy new year to everyone!!
Learning about Thomas Edison was so cool! Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas! I’m so excited for ASL 2!!! I’m loving ASL 1 right now!
This was so cool learning about Thomas Edison
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
r -51 is so cool
Happy holidays Acellus
Happy Holidays everything! I always enjoy watching Science Live!
carol of the bells is one of my fav christmas songs!