The Vacuum Tube Diode
January 7, 2026 • EPISODE 292
What invention helped spark the age of electronics? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings and the Protégés break down the vacuum tube diode—one of the earliest electronic components that made controlling the flow of electrons possible. Learn how this simple device works, why it was so important in early radios and computers, and how it laid the groundwork for modern electronic technology. Join us for a clear, engaging look at a key milestone in the history of electronics.
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 »
Watching from Idaho
Both definitely
Modern radios are similar to old radios.
This is really neat
science!!
Technology is awesome
It’s so hard to choose
That is cool
This video was really interesting I enjoyed watching it
Best thing to watch
Love these
Awsome love this episode
Such a cool video!!
Hi from Maryland !
I love Science Live!
Morse code it’s pretty cool
Awesome videos thanks . Happy new year!
What kind of technologies to you think will evolve from the Vacuum Tube Diode?
I really enjoyed the story about the guy who wanted to get letters almost instantaneously
Great Class!
Amazing video!!!!!
learning about vacuum tube diode was very interesting.
I like this episode
I LOVE SCIENCE LIVE.
Amazing!!
I love R51! He is so funny!
Very interesting, Thank you.
I liked both of them!
Enjoyed the jokes as always *starting the New Year out right” LOL
R51 is always funny,
Awesome show this week!
Caleb and David together they are awesome
This video was fun to watch I liked the part about the small robots that costed about a cent.
awesome science live video to start the new year
a bit late but learning about recent robot tech was cool.
computers are always so interesting to learn about.
Science Live is awesome! I love learning new things
This was a fun episode.
I love science live
I’m exsited for this video!
Its so cool how so many peoples brains come up with such amazing inventions like this one.
Love what technology has to offer.
I loved this weeks video!
I love science live
I loved getting to hear about all of the new interesting tech!
I am not tech-savvy at all, but this video was interesting. The robots are so small, I love them!
David and Caleb yes
I would pick both of them. They compliment each other well.
Going to start learning more morse code , so interesting!
Sometimes I wish we could go back to simpler times .
The tiny robots are amazing!
It was really cool to learn how Morse code was made and why.
Another great video
This episode was so funny. Congraulations David and Calab.
This episode was so cool!
Technology is like magic
I love learning more about early scientific and technologically advancements/inventions?
I didn’t know how complex inventions really are!
The vacuum tube diode is so cool!
i loving working on computers
i love science live!
Cool
That is really cool. How did you come up with the idea to do that?
How do the phones, computers, iPads, e.c.t work with such a small chip and electricity?
This was a good video.
How can a vacuum tube help the quality of sound
I love science live
Drones are so cool!
I want to build a robot!
That’s so awesome I love this episode!
A microscopic robot that can swim! Wow!!!
Great lecture! I like both David and Caleb together. These guys are great!
Wonderful episode
this was so cool to learn about
Learning about the invention of the morse code in this science live was super interesting!
Computers seem so complicated
So informative everytime.
I love Acellus and how his appearance in the science video
happy new year. science live is back!
Tobias’s lesson on morse code was very interesting!!
how is it possible to create robots so small?
David yes Caleb yes
Wow that’s amazing how Anastasia did a project with Nasa
Great video
I liked the Morse code
Thank you – looking forward to the next episode. i like the humor as well
I love to learning about new things on science live!
this video was great
thank you for video
How big is the Vacuum Tube Diode?
Love this video.
Super awesome!
Thank you for all the info. I might take the AP courses!
Technology keeps advancing!
Fantastic episode y’all.
computers are always so interesting
Yes they are.
Hi
David and Caleb together
Exactly
Hi guys science live time
Happy New Year!
I thought this video was interesting and I really enjoyed watching it.
Me too
loved the first live of the year!
I love tech!
Nice video
Hola desde Bridgeport 🖐️
How do they make the robots so small?
I love Science Live! Thank you for all the work you put into this!!! 🙂
Great video, i loved the technology and science, both of them are great i would choose both of them.
I know so fun
Hi from Nevada!
I liked David and Kaleb’s explanation! Hard to choose.
I really enjoy the tech segments!
Morse code seems cool maybe il try to learn it.
Who invented the vacuum tube?
I loved this so much!!!
What is the largest computer ever made?
Awesome video!! Thank you so much for the amazing video<33
Absolutely loving this!😀
technology spotlight never fails to teach me something new
Drones are awesome
Plants breathe carbon dioxide
The radar systems remind me of the movie “Twister.”
Same
the robot was so cute 😍.
I really enjoyed the morse code segment, thank you for the great episode!
I like when Calob and David explain how to build that invention in 30 seconds and in the middle when they stop for drinks because it is really funny.
Morse code should be taught more *
Morse code is cool.
I LOVE drones
What was the original purpose of Morse code and do you think the idea of Morse code or the purpose of Morse code has changed over the years?
I think I can help you! Morse code back in the day was used as a more efficient way to get a message from one place to the other in a short period of time, since any other way would take weeks to a month at minimum
The microscopic robot was really cool
David and Caleb are hilarious
Samuel Morse was a very talented person.
Happy new year science live!!
happy new year to you
Where do you do Science Live
Loved loved loved the video!
Hello from Baltimore, MD. I enjoyed this episode!
This live was my favorite so far!
I say keep Caleb and David!They made the concepts engaging and seem to work well with each other and both seem super intelligent.Hope to see them more.
Caleb and David are the science live dream team!!
How can a vacuum tube help the quality of sound?
I thought making robots so tiny would be more exspensive
I vote R51
I like both David and Caleb. I cannot choose a favorite! They work well together.
I vote R51!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year! I love science live!
I didn’t know that plants could breathe that is so cool!
how do they fit the stuff a robot needs in a robot the size of a salt grain?
Hi from Germany!
I really liked this concept and how the vacuum tube diode helped launch the age of electronics. This was a great Science Live.
This video was really fun. The more I find about Morse code’s history, the more excited I am to learn it. Although the part about micro robots was definitely my favorite, and I find it really interesting. It’s crazy to think about how much technology has progressed.
We are in Surrey, England, and most of the buses we see on the road are powered by Hydrogen. (Surrey has the UK’s largest zero-emission hydrogen bus fleet with over 34 buses. ) Sometimes, when it’s especially cold and dark outside, we can see a big cloud of steam come out of the bus. It’s so nice to know that it’s not a big cloud of harmful pollutants! Yay Hydrogen. Always makes us think of Dr. Billings.
Both were great, I think both deserve a vote!
Wow, the robot is so small! Amazing!
Science Live after a long week is the best.
I can’t believe how small that robot was! It’s amazing what technology can do!! Technology has come so far… 📻 >📡 💾 > 💿 📺 > 🖥 ☎️ >📱 📼 > 💻 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖
I really hope the tornado drone works!
Glad the show is back! Learning about the Vacuum Tube Diode was really fun! Good show as always.
Tornado drone is an amazing idea.
The microscopic robot was so awesome!
As someone who loves to learn about Morse Code, this fascinated me! Wow!
I loved Dr Tobias and Samuel Morse’s painting!
David and Caleb are both really cool. I like drone I think they are cool. I hope it works for the*the tornadoes.
A tornado drone invention is incredible.
Both young men were very engaging in their explanation of the query they had to breakdown for the audience. I feel they both did a wonderful job in capturing the attention of the students. Keep both!!
I couldn’t believe typing an email with morse code, that would take forever.
I love this show!
I like how Caleb and David made it so interesting. I also liked learning about the telegraph.
Samuel Morse creating the morse code is so fascinating and respectable because not only did he do it because of what happened with his wife, but he also had to go through multiple designs and make up a whole new language for it.
Science is awesome!
I can’t believe that people have made a microscopic robot that swims. I thought that it was really cool.
It’s cool how plants can breathe.
Hi R51. By the way that is not how son and grandson work. Son and grandson are people. A sun is a star in space.
Both! They work well together! I enjoyed this Science Live!
I really thought it was cool that Caleb was an Acellus Academy graduate. Inspiring.
Its CRAZY how one of those tiny robots costs 1 PENNY!
This is my first time watching the science live video and I like it. I learned a lot.
Science live rocks I hope everyone will have a great year
Can you add a Korean Language class ?