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 »

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6,269 Comments

  1. Elijah

    tuning in from texas! can’t wairt for DR.Billings!!

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  2. Samantha

    hi from New Mexico!

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  3. Emily

    Hi guys!

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  4. Nathan

    Howdy!

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  5. Pierce

    Hi from Costa Rica!

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  6. Leonna

    i just joined sign language thank you so much Ms. Donnie !

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  7. Kensi

    Hi from Nebraska!

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  8. Lianna

    HIIII FROM NEW MEXICO!! ;D

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  9. Dixie

    I love science live

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  10. Moriah

    hey y’all from TX

    where r my texans at lol 🙂

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    • Zoey

      I live in texas.

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  11. Evangeline

    Hello from NC!

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    • Ronni

      I live in NC too! <3

      Reply
  12. Madison

    ASL sounds so cool and I wanna do it next year

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  13. Elaina

    i wonder how Lorelei got the inspiration for her book..

    Reply
  14. Taylor-ann

    Hi y’all! greetings from the south!

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  15. Katie

    Hello from Louisiana!

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  16. Indigo

    Hi from New York!

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  17. Mavis

    I want to learn ASL! I cant wait to take this class.

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  18. Josias

    Hi from Alaska!

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  19. Samuel

    I’ll be taking that one!

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  20. Kaylee

    Merry early Christmas 8 more days

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  21. Kyleigh

    hi from illinois

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  22. Sammer

    hi

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    hello from va

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  24. Kaylee

    Excited for learning

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  25. Tianna

    Hello from Michigan!

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  26. Ivan

    congrats that’s great

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  27. Zoey

    wowwwww

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  28. Kaine

    Greetings from North Carolina!

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  29. Chance

    American sign language helps you learn of what they’re teaching you even though it’s helpful

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  30. Rowan

    *Hello everyone from Georgia

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  31. Jay

    Helloooo

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  32. Mason

    Excited to watch the live today!

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  33. Ahmed

    Hello guys

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  34. Michelle

    Hearing about other students experiences always inspires me! So thankful to hear about them!

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  35. Alyssa

    Hi from Florida! Can’t wait to learn about more fascinating technology like the relay!

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  36. Zion

    HIII YALL i hope you all are having a good night

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  37. Baylee

    I think it would be so much fun to learn sign language.

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  38. Hailey

    I Am here. Cool to hear about the new course

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  39. Olivya

    Hello from Ohio!! I’m so excited for this live!

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  40. Chloe

    hi from illinois!

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    from New York!

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  42. Jose

    hii from tx

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  43. Natalie

    hi how are you. like science live

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    Good evening everyone! I’m from West Virginia.

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    Hello everyone!

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  46. Faith

    I’m excited about the new sign language class

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  47. Jackson

    Merry early Christmas!

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  48. Eveline

    That’s cool

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  49. Donovan

    Hi from NC!

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  50. Lyric

    hello from arkansas

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  51. Charlotte

    A book at age 15 is amazing!

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  52. Colton

    Hey from Florida

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  53. Liam

    hello I’m from Mississippi.

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  54. Abigail

    Hello from Maine! Happy 4th day of Hannukah! This is my first live science L!VE! I’m new to Acellus

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  55. Paisley

    Here from New Mexico! That’s really cool that someone my age wrote a whole book! Huge inspiration!!

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  56. Olin

    I’m from Illinois

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  57. Kennedy

    I look forward to Science Live every Wednesday night!

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  58. Adeline

    Science live! Merry Christmas to everybody from Texas!

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  59. Reign

    Thanks for having me i cant wait to see what we learn about tonight.

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  60. Elias

    Hello from Texas! Excited for ScienceLive tonight!

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  61. Marshall

    hi from ga 💖

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  62. Mason

    Congrats on publishing!! Great Job!

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  63. Omar

    Hi from Maine Portland

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  64. Claire

    Hi from Virginia

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  65. Mason

    Hello from Texas!

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  66. Brenda

    Holidays are close!

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  67. Brooklyn

    Hi, from Alabama!

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  68. Dallas

    Hello from Mississippi everybody!!!

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  69. Tia

    Hello Tia from Kansas here.

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  70. Whitley

    HI, from North Carolina!!

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  71. Vera

    Hello from Tennessee!!!

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  72. Zariah

    Hello from Indiana

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  73. Manavii

    Im excited for this weeks science program!

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  74. Jesus

    hello from Chicago.

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  75. Skyla

    Hi from upstate NY!! Merry christmas!!

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  76. Sofia

    Hi from Houston

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  77. Henley

    Hello from Arkansas Merry Christmas!

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  78. Kaleb

    Hello from Michigan!! I love science!

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  79. Tatum

    Hi from Idaho!!!

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  80. Makenzie

    Hi from North Carolina !!!

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  81. Ashton

    Heya from Bangor, Maine!

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  82. Sayed

    hey from Louisiana

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  83. Hendrix

    Hey science live from Virginia

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  84. Somiah

    Hello from Florida!!!!

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  85. Devin

    Dr Billings you should put accellus colors on your new jet will accelus writen on the side of it.

    Reply
  86. Shania

    Happy Holidays everyone 🙂

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  87. Aiden

    Hello and happy holidays to everyone!

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  88. Rachel

    Hi from Fargo ND

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  89. Quinn

    Staying healthy should be everyone’s goal! I am sick right now. This should be an interesting video!

    Reply
  90. Edward

    helloooooo from floridaaaaaa hope everyone has a good time watching the live tonight

    Reply
  91. Grayson

    that is funny oh chemistry oh chemistry you stand in splendid beuty

    Reply
  92. Matthew

    Learning how to stop viruses from infecting cells is really good to learn about, as we will be able to stop a lot of illness related deaths as a result

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  93. Lilly

    Hello from Maryland.

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  94. Andrew

    Science live is so much fun! I love science live!

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    Hello from Colorado

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    I love science live!!!

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    Hello from Kentucky!

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    Hi from Virginia!!!

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    Hello from Delaware. I look forward to tonight’s video. 🙂

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  100. Liam

    Hello from Texas and I love watching this

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  101. Ava

    Hi all from New Jersey

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  102. Paiton

    Hi guys!! I’m from Kentucky!

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  103. Alice

    “oh chemistry oh chemistry”

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  104. Kash

    Hopefully we can do more science experiments 😀

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    hello from New York

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    HIIII FROM CHICAGO ILLINOIS HAVE A GREAT DAY GUYS!!!!

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    Hi from Nevada! These lives are so interesting .

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    Happy Holidays, science live!!

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    Hello my name is Jameson and i am from Maryland. I am super excited to learn in this science live

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    Hi from Illinois!

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    I love Science!!!!

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    Happy Wednesday!! I’m very excited for today’s live!

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    Hi from Tennessee!

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    Hey from Houston

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    Hi, from Maryland! I’m super excited for the live today.

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    hi from thailand

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    Hello from New Jersey!!

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    Hello from GA.

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    hi i am Ryker from montana!!!

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    Hi, from North Carolina!

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  121. Conner

    Can not wait to see tonights show.

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    Hello and Merry Christmas from Alaska.

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    Hi from Missouri. I love the video from today !

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    I’m excited to tune into the Science Live today. Hello from Minnesota !

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    Hello from TN! Btw, Tobias is my favorite

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    Hi from Colorado

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    Hello from South Carolina, Merry Christmas everyone.

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    Hello from Missouri !

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    HI FROM MISSISSIPPI :3

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    Hey from Montana! So excited for todays liveee

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    Hi from TN! Excited to be here!

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  132. Laney

    I wonder what the topics for today will be

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  133. Benjamin

    What’s the difference between a comet, an asteroid, and a meteorite?

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    Hi from TX!

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  135. Keaton

    Hey here from Texas.

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    Hi from Nevada!

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    Hello from New York.

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    Hello from North Carolina.

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    hello from saudi

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    Hi from Dallas tx

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    hi coming from Louisiana I’ve been watching for about a year and a half now

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    Hello!! Coming from Mississippi, Gulfport. Science live is the best!

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    hi from CO and Merry Christmas!

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    Hello from Florida.

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  148. Yasmine

    Hi, thank you for today’s episode
    watching from Hawaii.

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  149. Leora

    I absolutely love the science puns and jokes at the beginning of these lives they definitely grab your attention

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  150. Olivia

    Hi, from Mississippi!

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    Hi from Utah!

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  152. Sophia

    The acellus program is great because every week when i log into the lectures i always learn something new and get inspired

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  153. Joseph

    I wish the entire Science Live team a happy holidays and a happy New Years!

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    Hello from El paso

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    Greetings everyone, I’m from Illinois :3

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      hello from Colorado. Congratulations Laura

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    HI FROM ND

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    Merry early Christmas everyone!

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  161. Noah

    Hello! very interesting things!

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    Can’t wait to watch today!!

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    hello from Missouri!

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    Hola from Miami,FL

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    hi from tn

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    hi

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    Hello, from florida.

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    hello

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    HAHAHA!!

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