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 new year everyone!! Watching from LV! 🙂
Love Science Live. Happy New Year!
Why did apple use so many phones when introducing the new and improved phone?
The explanation about Thomas Edison and the Edison effect was so cool!
Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see all the new Science Lives in 2026!
SO AWESOME
Thomas Edison was one of my favorite Scientists!
Thomas Edison is a great scientist and smart guy!
Great video! Watching from New Jersey! I had no idea that Thomas Edison was not the first inventor of the light bulb!
Hello! First off, I’d like to begin by saying…, happy new year! I hope the Acellus Team had a wonderful break. I know that mine was lovely.
Being back at school has been nice, however. Dr. John’s segment on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was a reminder to me that learning is such a crucial part of living, and that every day there’s something new to learn. So, I thank Science Live for representing what it means to grow and comprehend the vastness of life and what we’ve created here on Earth.
The things that Edison invented are next level and I love it
Wow! Very interesting episode!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thanks for all the live’s this year, love the Thomas Edison stories!
Thomas Edison was a very clever man, sometimes I wish I could think like him.
Thomas Edison was a incredible person and is very interesting to learn about. Thank you!!!
I love that we get to learn about the science developments in the world here!!!
Science Live is awesome!
Happy new year everyone. Hope everyone has a great year!🤗😄
l love learning about science.
hey, you should make a vid on the progression of robots. that would be really cool.
My favorite part of this Science Live was the history of the IPhone.
I really liked learning about Thomas Edison.
When i grow up I want to be a scientist.
Happy new year!!
ill be finishing my Acellus courses this week and i was wondering if i could still take the sign language course
happy new year and that’s actually kinda crazy that NASA is launching something in 2037
Happy New Year to all at Acellus!
Thomas Edison is the best inventor ever.
Watching from Montana! Science is so interesting I love it.
That’s honestly really cool, I don’t usually look into these kinds of things. Thank you acellus for ya’lls hard work! and happy new year to all.
Thomas Edison was a great scientist, happy new years to every scientist
Watching from Idaho
Happy New Years!
Thomas Edison was so smart!
Cool!😎
I love these!
Favorite time of the week.
Hello, my name is Jacob. I especially liked the part about the invention of the first IPhone. Technology is truly interesting. Anyway, thank you for the knowledge.
Thomas Edison was an amazing inventor!! Happy new year!
I Love Acellus so much
Happy New Year Acellus!
Goodbye 2025 welcome 2026!
Edison’s inventions are a miracle!
Happy new year🎉
It’s crazy to think about how much the first iPhone changed the game for phone technology. I’m sure most people already know how important the iPhone was, but it’s interesting that it came down to one team member who solve the keyboard problem before they could successfully go forward with the groundbreaking technology.
I would just like to say thank you to Dr. Billings and everything you’ve done with Acellus. I’ve learned so much and I really appreciate it. God Bless you Dr. Billings and everybody else apart of the Acellus family. 🤗💜✝
Science live is the best!!!
I love science it’s really fun to learn all the new things .
WOW! I did not know that.
Thank you, for the science live!
Happy New years everyone! and keep on sciencing
Eli is very interested in the possibility of sending messages back in time. Who knows, it might be a college project in the future.
This was an AMAZING class thank you!!
I love watching these! Always learning something new!
So glad to be back and I hope every one had a merry Christmas and happy new year
I always enjoy learning about Thomas Edison! Happy New Year everybody!
I am very grateful for Thomas Edison.
#GOATEDBILLINGS
Who else loves Breakthrough Moments in Science?
NASA getting a new present like that is pretty cool, wonder if space is just full of stars and planets or if there’s also something out there.
Thanks for another good episode! I loved watching Science Live.
I LOVE SCIENCE
Who made the very first lightbulb?
Thomas Edison is very smart. He was a great scientist.
This is truly inspiring! Happy New Years!
I love how you make the science lives fun and interesting and new every week!
Quite the interesting watch. I didn’t know that Dr. Billing’s mentor was mentored by Edison himself, so that’s pretty neat.
Thomas Edison was so smart it still shocks me to this day.
I would love to learn ASL!.😍
Happy New Year to all Acellus workers and scientist!
I am going to be a scientist when i grow up.
Science live is the best!!
NOTHING BETTER THAN STARTING MY DAY OFF WITH SCIENCE LIVE.
Thomas Edison was a genius!! Thanks for this Science Live!
Happy New years to every scientist!
You Too, Nvb! I am learning to become a Chemist!!!!!! I LOVED the Joke about the chemists Favorite Holiday song, Of ”Oh Chemistery, oh Chemistery!”
I love science live!
Great stuff guys!
science is cool! I wanna be a scientist.
SCIENCE LIVE IS AMAZING I LOVE IT!!!!!!
I love science!
Happy New Years once again Acellus! Can’t wait for the very first live of 2026 🙂
Merry spring from vietnam !
Thomas Edison is the best inventor ever. I wish I would be like him in the future.
Thomas Edison was super smart. Happy new year!
The facts are so interesting on Science Lives.
Science Live is the best!!! Watching from Kentucky!
Very interesting! Thanks to these videos they teach me something new every week.
This was very interesting.
Thomas Edison was an amazing scientist and person! What a role model to look after for!
I love learning about Thomas Edison!!
I love Science Live😄
The way cell phones and other technology have changed to their forms today is incredible!
Thanks for the winter break. Miss your videos!
This is fascinating. Edison is super smart.
It’s my first time watching this and I love it 😻😻😻
Thanks for teaching me something new! Amazing as always!!
Thomas Edison was a very smart and talented man
Science is so much fun 🤩
Happy new year everyone!!!!
Wow, thanks for the lesson! Also Happy New Year🥳
Thomas Edison was so smart!
Found this segment really interesting. Edison was a really influential person!
So glad to be jumping back into school after break!!
Science Live is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how are touchscreen invented?
I can’t wait to see the new NASA telescope in action.
Thomas Edison was so great, and so is R Billings! Merry Christmas!
Now I know how the light bub was invented. Thank Thomas Edison for his great contribution
So excited to watch Science Live this week !!!
Thomas Edison was a genius, and without him we may not be where we are today.
Thomas Edison was an genius.
Thomas Edison wow was a clever man, my mom also still remembers him from her studies at school 😀
Happy New year from Canyon Lake, Tx
Thomas Edison had such a brilliant mind! Wow!!
Science live is great!
Thomas Edison was a once-in-a-lifetime genius.
I genuinely love learning something new every weekly science live. I’m on vacation but saw this on my road trip. Thanks Mr. Billings for all the cool facts!
Thomas Edison was definitely one of the greatest minds we have ever had. I wonder what amazing things he would have developed in the modern day.
I love science live! Happy new Year!
Could you please explain how heat causes electrons to move in the Edison Effect and why it was important? Thank you, and I admire Thomas Edison’s contribution to science. Happy New Year!
Wow I didn’t know that telescopes have came so far and can take pictures so fast!
Thomas Edison was just amazing!I think he also invented the microphone?
I love Roger billings
Love learning new things from you guys! Thank you
First time watching and it’s amazing! Really learning a lot and staying entertained.
Thomas Edison is a smart man. Great Science Live
This was a really entertaining episode. Thomas Edison is really an intriguing person to learn about.
Always like not only learning new things about science, but also how much there is to learn!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Love Thomas Edison!
Watching from Ohio! Happy new years everybody
thank guys I really love watching dr roger billings.
Thomas Edison was genius!!
I love watching and learning about Thomas Edison.
Happy new year! This is a great episode, thank you.
Wow. Thomas Edison was very smart and cool just like Dr. Billings. The new telescope is really cool too.
Thomas Edison was Brilliant
Happy New Year Dr. B and Science Live team for everything. Love you so much!!!
I love watching Thomas Edison. He’s one of my favorite creators. I loved the science video this week.
wow! I never knew power lines could carry so many volts of energy!
It’s incredible how much there is to learn about science.
Always look forward to the science lives i wonder what else ai will be capable of once it has enough memory to truly understand everything, science included and how it could further develop all fields of research
I love R 51
How long did it take to make the first fully touch screen phone by apple? Also I enjoy watching thee videos and learning!
I wish I was as smart as Thomas Edison! It’s amazing that these scientists knew so much with less technology than what we have today.
thank you Acellus
I can’t wait to start ASL 2 on Monday!!
I loved the satellites and the pictures of the galaxy, stars and planets!
I love learning about Thomas Edison!
I can’t wait to take ASL 1 and 2!
r-51 was hilarious and I enjoyed so many Tomas Edison facts.
The chemistry joke at the beginning was very funny 😆😆 I’ve got to start using these with my friends.
I love science live its gets better everytime:)
I really enjoyed this! Thank you!
The chemistry carol was funny.
Happy new year!
there’s so many new things I’m learning
Hi im back from vacation! i missed Acellus!
science is so cool, i’ve never really enjoyed science until this year.
Way to go fellow student for publishing your own book. Thats really cool!
R51 is awesome, thank you for being here Billings!
Happy New Years from Texas!!!
I named my fish Thomas! I hope to invent like Thomas Edison did.
Thomas Edison was a genius. He was smart and talented.
Wow r51 is funny happy new years
I love watching these🥰
nice joke about the scientist favorite Christmas song
I think my favorite part is the technology spotlight with Dr. John.
happy new years!
Thomas Edison was clearly an amazing person. Thank you for making this great video!
happy new years from georgia
Thomas Edison was cool! I want to invent things too.
There’s so much to learn about! Thank you for doing these 😀
I love Dr. Billings! Thank you very much!
I loveee watching your videos so much.
Happy new year Acellus! I cannot wait to see all the new courses to come out this 2026!
Thomas Edison was so ahead of his time man…
Happy New Year!
I love watching these! Science Live is the best!
Love the information and Happy New Year, let’s have a great 2026 from Plaquemine, La
yesss love the facts!!!!!😁 and love watching Thomas Edison. He was so smart
Comment. The older I get the more I appreciate brilliant minds.
Happy New Years!!!
Love the Science Lives
I can’t believe there’s so many new things to learn about science!
Thomas Edison was so great, and so is R Billings! Merry Christmas!
I love science lives🙌