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 »
So we’re just gonna gloss over the fact that r-51 created a literal TIME MACHINE?! HELLO?!
Also, to whoever’s scrolling through these comments, you’re beautiful, and the world is a better place with you in it. And if you’re going through anything right now, remember that God loves you sooo much and wants to help you. Have a great day, beautiful humannn :3
i hope your new years was amazing!!! I love watching these i feel like i get smarter every time.
this year went by so fast, Happy new year
Happy 2026
I enjoyed learning about old technology such as the development of the original iPhone.
Where would we be without Thomas Edison?
I wanted to say that I particularly enjoyed this Edison Science Live. Thanks!
Thomas Edison is so cool! So inspired!!
Happy New years to everyone.
I love science lives!! They are so fun
I hope everyone had an amazing holidays and New year, this science live was awesome as usual!
I loved learning about how the Apple keyboard came to be!
If the Edison Effect wouldn’t have happened, do you think this could’ve changed how we have lights, music, and techonolgy today? That’s crazy to think about.
I think people knew Thomas Edison was going to be something special, even as a small child.
Learning with Acellus is so fun.
love how this episode showed the Edison Effect wasnt just a weird side note it actually shaped modern electronics. Fascination stuff!
I love science live! so inspiring!
I liked the part about Edison.
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 everyone!!!!! <3
Why can’t we get humans on mars yet?
Very COOL! Happy new year i hope you have the best new year!!!
science rocks!
I love how many thing we can learn about during science live!!! So amazing as always!
It is quite interesting the difference between a new high resolution telescope and the previous telescopes we were using. The phones back then were more of tool compared to what they are today. It’s very interesting to see how we develop technology over the years.
Poor R 51…..
Happy new years everyone i hope ya’ll have a scientific year!
Happy New Year from Virginia, USA! I love Pajet Monet.^^
science is cool, being smart is the new fashion! Edison is an inspiration
Happy New Year from NC!!
Loved learning about the Edison Effect.
It’s interesting how much of an impact the Edison effect has made on what we know today
𝔀𝓸𝔀 𝓼𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽’𝓼 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝔂 𝓴𝓮𝔂𝓫𝓸𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 . 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓾𝓷𝓷𝔂 𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓳𝓸𝓴𝓮!
Happy New year’s to everyone!!!!!!❤️😄
I want to invent something that will change the world forever!
Happy New year R51
Thanks for making me like science
I liked to hear that there will be ASL, but how do you get it as a class
Hello from Delaware!
A goodbye to 2025, and an exciting hello to 2026! happy new year everyone!
I LOVE LEARING ABOUT SCIENCE AND IT’S SO COOL
Thomas Edison was super smart when it come to all the science stuff it’s really interesting
I loved this show. It was funny and cool.
R51’s invention was really cool
I like R 51 🙂
I loved learning about science, I want to be a scientist one day.
Science live is so fun! Happy New Years from Virginia! Thomas Edison was pretty smart!
Science is so cool I wanna be a scientist when I grow up!
happy new year
Happy new years cant wait for the new episodes!
Happy New Years to everyone!!!
So interesting!!! Thomas Edison is such a good scientist.
what’s your favorite thomas edison discovery?
Wow! another great year with science live!
Happy New Year! Science is my favorite!
I loved the joke about a chemist’s favorite Christmas song! “Oh, Chemistry, Oh Chemistry” was GENIUS!!!!
I want to invent things like Thomas Edison did!
HAPPY NEW YEARSS!!!! Awesome first science live of the year!
Happy New Year! What cool videos are we going to learn about this year? Thomas Edison is my favorite inventor/scientist!
Science Live is the beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssstttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year!
So glad to be jumping back into school after break
I love all the facts that I learn from Science Live!!!!❤️👨🚀👨🚀❤️
I loveeeee! the showw! 🙂
Thomas Edison was a smart guy!
Cell phones have changed alot! Happy New Year!
Happy new year from Vietnam!
I cant believe how these people can go from nothing to amazing creations!
I love watching the science live videos they’re always so interesting and you guys make everything so easy to understand .
Thomas Edison was amazing!
Science is fun!
Happy new year everybody!
Thank you Thomas Edison!
Excited to be back after my holiday break! My mom showed me the satellites that orbit the earth that you can see at night, space is so cool.
hope everyone has an amazing year
Wow that is cool about the Apple phone
ciao from New Hampshire!
Every episode of science live inspires me especially this one
I am excited to take both sign language courses now!
Thomas Edison was an amazing scientist!
I love Science!!!
Happy late new years everyone, let’s look forward to a new year of possibilities!
Thomas Edison, pioneer! Love science
I like the 🆕 NASA telescope 🔭
It’s exciting to see what new innovative ways they take pictures of space.
Science is my favorite 🤩 thing of all subjects📕📓📚📖📔
Thomas Edison is the best inventor ever. I wish I would be like him in the future.
I am so excited to watch science live! Good morning and Happy holidays.
Science is more interesting than I thought it was
This is why my grandpa called them “dumb phones”. It is amazing to see how all manmade creations have advanced over time. Tobias is right, things need to break to reveal a “breakthrough”. It also shows how having perseverance in your ideas or goals can lead to some amazing inventions.
Happy new years Roger, I enjoyed this episode like always I cant wait for the next one.
Happy New Years to everyone!
Thomas Edison was a brilliant inventor. His invention of the light bulb changed the world.
The world as we know it today would not be the same without Thomas Edison.
The difference between past and current technology is amazing!
Y’know Dr. Billings is so cool, he never fails to give us new information every video.
awesome video roger billings
happy Holidays Acellus !!!
I learned about the Edison Effect and thought it was cool how it led to modern electronics.
This really was a great lesson ! Happy new year!:)
Happy New years everyone. Tuning in from Nebraska.
Happy new year from Georgia. Love these science lessons.
Edison was a great scientist! I love this science live!!
Happy New Year’s to everyone