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 »
Area 51 is my favorite
Today was my first video lecture, and it was very interesting to learn about the Edison Effect.
Super informative! Thanks for these videos they teach me something new every week.
Happy 2025! I hope everyone had a great year!
I once read that Thomas Edison was a homeschool student. It’s awesome to know that some great inventors were also in homeschool programs, and became great contributors to society.
this was cool learning about the Edison effect
hiiii from TX
Hi Happy New Year from Kansas City, Mo.
science is my fav subject
This episode on the edison effect was really awesome!! ty DR. B for all of ur inspiring khowledge you share with us.
Trying and failing so many times must have been exhausting. It must have been hard to keep going, but it paid off in the end.
Hope everyone at Acellus had an awesome holiday!
Hi from nc
I think its cool on how far technology has come for us to find new things in space
Happy New years hope all of yall’s year is great
happy new year!!!
that episode was really good
I wish i was in science live!
I really like Tobias. His section is my favorite.
I love you guys!
I love science happy new year to all of you
Super informative! Thanks for these videos they teach me something new every week.
Happy new years from kentucky!!!
Thank you for the daily knowledge Mr. Billings! I appreciate your effort and look forward to your next installment of Science Live.
Happy New Years to all Scientists.
Happy New Years from Mississippi
science is so cool
Happy 2026!!
I loved learning about Thomas Edison.
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE ACELLUS!!!!!!!
Happy New Years everyone!! I hope that your all having an amazing year so far.
The science facts are always interesting to learn about! happy new years.
Happy New Year from Mississippi everyone!
I am lily I wanted to say i always love your lives
Happy New years everyone!!!
Happy New Year!! I love Science Live!
science is so cool!
i love science so much happy new year
Happy New Year!
What’s the best university to go to?
Do you think we will ever be able to travel across space, what about black holes?
Happy new year!!!!!
Thomas Edison really did change the world!
NASA’s getting a new space telescope for Christmas🙌🙌
Happy 2026 from Ohio.
much love from TN!
I love Science!
SCIENCE LIVE!!!!!
This is so AMAZING!!
Learning about space is so cool!
happy late new years. thank you for always bringing us stuff that we can love. i love your lives!!!
hello from ohio!
Science is truly amazing!
this makes me love science!
I love science live! Happy new year!
I am here! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New years!!
Loved learning about the Edison effect! Happy New Year 2026
Wow! Edison was ahead of his time
Thomas Edison was very smart. I want to be smart like him
Merry Christmas Acellus team!
Hello from North Carolina !
Inventions like the cellphone are absolutely incredible. What would we do without science?
Could you explain the definition of “exoplanet”? The word I heard is pretty unfamiliar, but I’d like to know the definition of exoplanet. Is it a different kind of planet in the solar system?
Cool facts, Happy New Year!
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!
Happy New Years ..I really love this show ..can’t wait to see what will be on it this year YAY !!!
Happy to be back from holiday! Happy New Year everyone!
I am so excited science live is back!!!
Edison was very smart and talented person
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!
The science behind taking pictures of planets is so incredible.
That is soooo cool how NASA keeps coming up with better and better technology. I can’t believe how much better they have already made it.
Happy Holidays! This live was great!
Science lives are so amazing!!!
Loved learning about Thomas Eddison, thanks for another great science live!
Science is my favorite subject!
Happy New Year from North Carolina
Every Science Lives are so fascinating!
I love this !!!
How many inventions did Thomas Edison have?
Happy Science live! Ready to learn more science!
Love learning!
I watched this with my brother! Happy New Year!!
Science lives are the highlight of my day!
How do electrons flow through the battery?
Thank you and Happy New Year!
I’ll never understand how scientists things of the things they do. They are truly intelligent.
Happy New Year to Acellus team and everyone!
I love learning from science live!
Such a good episode!
Glad to finally see an episode all about and honoring Thomas Edison!
How could did he measure the current of the light bulb ?
Thomas Edison did some awesome things! Loved today’s live!!
science lives teach so much
I like how the Iphone was made
acellus is the best
I’m really glad that they were able to make a touch screen because it makes it easier.
Is the ASL available for everyone and how do you get?
The part when he was talking about making the keyboard work was a great example of teamwork
I want to be a scientist someday. Learning about the Edison Effect was cool.
Happy New Year! Also, so cool to hear about what the new telescope may be able to do!
Science is my favorite!
I love science ❤️
What % of the universe have the world’s great scientists discovered?
I liked learning more about Thomas Edison! I didn’t know about the Edison Effect! Very cool!
Im starting to love science so much ! Happy new year 🎉
Thomas Edison was such a bright mind!
Wow the telescope is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I like how the telescope actually goes into space and takes pictures.
I love you guys
Love these live classes
Happy New Year and I really enjoyed this week’s live on the Edison Effect.
Thanks for teaching me something new! Amazing as always!!
Happy New years to every scientist!
I believe NASA is also working on the Artemis space program and hopefully land some people on the moon by the end of this decade.
Im glad to be back after break feels like a fresh start. I liked Dr. Tobias lesson about phones. I personally actually think that stylists are pretty cool honestly but also as much as I disagree with phones in general I am very glad I have one and am incredibly thankful 🙂
I wonder what manner of brilliant inventions Mr. Edison would create if he was alive today
We love Thomas Edison! 🙂
I wish I could’ve met Thomas Edison and learned things from him.
How exciting is the new ASL class. I am learning it at home. When will the class begin?
Happy New Years! Thank you for teaching me fun stuff about science every week!!
Happy Holiday to all the Acellus Staff, May we all have a grand new year!
Is the American Sign Language course going to be available for high schoolers? I say this because I am really interested in learning ASL. I love you too R51!
Happy New Years to everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend with family.
What modern technologies are based on the Edison Effect?
i hope everyone is having a good new year so far!!!!
We just built a house. I would love to have a telescope to enjoy the stars, galaxies, etc… with my family.
I learned about the new space telescope NASA just assembled.
Oh my gosh Edison! You were such a great inventor! I hope to be like him maybe in the future!
science is my favorite subject!
Thomas Edison was an extremely intelligent man
I learned that phones were made by engineers. Thomas Edison made the vacuum tube. The Hubble telescope would take about 435 pictures of the galaxy.
I am supper excited to hear more about American sign language.
R51 is hilarious
I love r51 and happy new year
I am excited for the new year of videos!
I love learning about Thomas Edison Dr. rogers mentor mentor.
This was a wonderful video my favorite part was learning about the history of how iphones were made.
Happy New Years Science Live!
😎 cool
I still can’t believe it is 2026
Thomas Edison was a great scientist.
Really cool and i liked the end a lot😂
Wow, science is incredible!
It is cool how the phone was made.
Edison was a MASTERMIND !!
I loved this weeks Science live! It was really interesting and I can’t wait to see what they have for us next week!!
I love nebulas!
I love these so much
When I saw the Nokia I instantly thought of the Nokia ringtone. Happy New Year.
Thomas Edison was a genius
Everything that Thomas Edison did is so interesting. We need more people like him!
Seeing this after watching a documentary on Thomas Edison, almost seems like fate!
I love science! Happy New year! Excited for the next video!
I liked the part about Thomas Edison the most
Happy New Years to everyone! Science is amazing
Edison and so many others made a big impact on today’s world, and r51 pls get well.
Science is neat
12/10/25 If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! 12/17/25 Congrats Laurelei Fox on your book!
Awesome as usual! Hope everyone had a Happy New Years!
It is cool to learn about how cell phones have changed, but also weird to think about the way they used to be!
Merry Christmas and happy new years to the amazing teachers and people that put together these science lives for us!
It would be so fascinating to have a conversation with someone like Thomas Edison and other wonderful scientists in today’s world. I enjoyed this science live.
I love Thomas Edison
I hope you have a good 2026
Wow, what a great Science Live! I’m so excited for the new ASL 2 course! Amazing to hear about the new NASA’s new telescope!
Happy new year! Science rocks!!
Thomas Edison is one of the coolest scientist that ever exists
how is r51
these are always so intriguing!
Thomas Edison was very smart and he contributed much to our world today. I love learning about him. Thank you for this live.
Thomas Edison was one of the best scientists!
Thomas Edison also invented the phonograph- first record player!!
What would we do without scientists?
I’m so excited for the new ASL 2 course!
I love watching science live!!
Happy New Year and thank you Dr. Billings It is such an honor to start the year off right with a nice science live, exploring such interesting topics like studying with Acellus Gold