Vacuum Tube Amplifier
January 14, 2026 • EPISODE 293
📌 Science Fair Idea – R-51 Radio
What’s a vacuum tube amplifier? Come explore with Dr. Roger Billings on Science LIVE! Learn about the technology that made it possible to boost electrical signals and amplify sound. Discover how vacuum tubes control electron flow, why they powered early radios, audio systems, and computers, and how they shaped modern electronics. And get ready for something super exciting: carbon nanotubes – super-strong, lightweight materials that might one day help build a space elevator, opening new ways to reach space!
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 »
I love Science Live!
cool! i love r51
Always so impressed every time i watch a science live!
Is someone working on going to space with a nano tube or is it just an idea?
I always wondered why after a while of having a device the charge doesn’t seem to last as long as when I first got the device.
This video is absolutely amazing, capturing attention from the very first second and holding it until the end. The visuals are engaging, creative, and well thought out, making every scene enjoyable to watch. The pacing feels smooth and balanced, never rushed or slow, which keeps viewers fully immersed. The message comes across clearly and powerfully, leaving a lasting impression. The overall quality shows real effort and passion behind the production. It’s the kind of video that inspires, entertains, and makes you want to watch it again while also encouraging you to share it with others.
Science live lets me learn new thing that I never knew thank you for all the fun and wonderous facts you tell us about and I love the hydrogen car! Where is the Science fair?
Congratulations Lucy and Malachi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🎉🎉🎉
What is the maximum a vacuum tube can be amplified?
How do modern storage drives hold so many gigs?
Did I miss the part on how we can participate in the science fair?
The hydrogen car was so cool!
I’m excited for Acelus world!
I love watching Science Lives!
I loved I learned how to connect cups and they can talk in it like a radio
This video is actually one of my favorites. I enjoyed the topic on carbon nanotubes and how it could be implemented in more things.
how old is the floppy disk
I’m ⭐️ struck to see Caleb and David are back
Wow Caleb and David are back to earth.I’m starstruck to see them
This was such a good episode, I love watching this every week.
Everytime I watch I never know what I’m going to learn!
Love to hear from the graduates. Good luck!
I Loved Science Live this week! Thank you for bringing this to us every week!
I can’t wait to make the the cup phone.
LOVE IT!
I really thought the vaccum tube amplifier was awesome!
Where do you find the Science fair information?
always fun to watch science live!!!
Wow! Such a cool episode!!!
I love watching these!!
I love both of the guitars that Caleb was holding!
i love r51 so much
The flash drive really is an amazing invention, I still can’t quite fathom how so much data is stored with just 0s and 1s.
Hello from Missouri!! 🙂
I might use the elevator to go to go to space some day
So cool to see graduates from Guam !
In the first flash drive how does it keep that much data inside and how did they make it to work?
Learning about hydrogen cars was so interesting!
What is a vacuum tube amplifier, and how does it make a weak signal stronger?
this episode was so cool just like every other episode
Hydrogen will be the future of pollution-free transportation
learn something new everyday!!
I love r51
i own a guitar amp that uses vacuum tubes that is cool how they work
Spectacular as always!
i always love watching these :D!!
Can you keep bringing David and Caleb in science live, please?
Inlove learning new things! Thank you so much, I now will be yearning to ride in a hydrogen car!!!
I really enjoyed watching this and learning new things.
Wow, I learn so much. It’s amazing, I love science.
I really liked the part about vacuum tubes! Who knew something like that would be the gateway to computers!
Thank you for posting these videos, I have learned a lot on Science Live.
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I like science live its cool
i like the part about the usb card
Great episode!
I enjoyed this video and enjoyed learning about this.
Which one of all the elements on the periodic table is the most useful for us modern day humans?
This is my first science live since my winter break. I am so excited to be back for a new semester of learning!
science live is so cool! I w8sh i could go in a hydrogen car!
R-51 is so funny
this is so fun
Great episode guys
You explain this so well.
I believe carbon nanotubes are already affecting us today, but in the future they will revolutionize our lives. Also, a space elevator sounds cool.
Please add the Dr Hydrogen to the gold store.
I enjoy watching these science lives every week!
So cool to watch!!
Ok this is so cool you guys are the best!
i watched this thing at least 30 times the part when toabias talk abount brain and some how i cant stop laughing
thank you for the great information!
super cool
Im excited to watch Acellus world!
Dr. Tobias is awesome I always enjoy what he has to say!
Amazingly genius!!! Thank you for the science live!
Science lives are amazing and the vacuum tube amplifier was very interesting.
I loved learning about hydrogen cars!!
Everything was so cool!
Hello from NC, i loved this science live!!
This episode was fire!!
we love making cup phones!
I love learning something new when I watch
How do the output transformer and the speaker load (impedance) modify the final sound of the tube amplifier?
The vacuum tube ampflier was super cool!
oh my gosh I’m so excited about the science medal.
Hydrogen cars are cool. Thank you for another awesome lesson
I wish I drove a hydrogen car
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r-51 is so funny!
absolutly cool thx you science live
science rules.
How long did it take Dr. Billings to construct a hydrogen engine that produced less emissions than an average car engine?
I’m super excited for the science fair and I really liked your video show
I loved the R51!😂
Hydrogen cars are actually pretty cool to me!
I learn something new everytime a new episode comes out, this was sooo cool!! Also I was wondering if the sunscreen they are making by studying bacteria will ever come out in America?
Carbon nanotubes sound so revolutionizing!
Thank you for teaching us all new things daily! You all on the Science Live team, are all very appreciated!!
I think it would be so cool if they actually created hydrogen cars for citizens to buy.
Love getting to learn something new every week, can’t wait for next weeks.
Episode was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!
Congrats to the recent graduates!
Cool science live episode guys!
Everyone cheer for the one and only R-51!!!!
The invention of the USB drive is very interesting.
There’s always something new to know in these videos!
love learning cool things from science live!
This really cool!
Hi from Delaware
Wow, I never knew anything about carbon atoms until I watched this video!
I think Tobias should be a teacher he is my favorite
I love R51 he’s so cute!
Science live is my favorite time of the week
I learned something new and fun. it’s cool how the vacuum tube sound like a radio or music.
I think always having a backup plan is a good idea.
From floppy disks to flash drives to external harddrives, to the cloud. What is next?
This video inspired to want to make my inventions.
Loved the excitement of this show! Thank you everyone!
Dr. Roger’s is the best.
I learn something new every time I watch science live. Learning about vacuum tube amplifiers was really fun and engaging.
I’m learning so much from our Wednesday night videos!
I swear every science live gets more and more intriguing!
I like when Calob playes guitar and only one person hears it and then when Calob and David plug the guitar into an amplifier then everyone hears it because that part is funny.
This episode was great! I love science live!
Thanks SL for another interesting episode!!
This science live was one of my favorites!
This episode was very interesting!
Always love to watch science live, cant wait to see the next one
Roger Billings is the best mentor I’ve ever had!
Thank you for the live! Hopefully we’ll get to see some of the science fair projects!
this episode was so fire! I loved it!
Can’t wait to see the winner of the science fair.
I love R51! I like the project R51 made!
I’ve watched so many Science Lives! I hope they never end.
Thank you for this live!
Amplifiers are so cool!
It’s awesome meeting other kids who used acellus!
Science Live, where science is ACTUALLY fun to learn!
hey my name is Delphine. Dr. Roger Billings is cool.
Science live is so cool!
I loved the plastic cup phone.
It was really interesting to see how R51 radio works!
This episode was very interesting!
I always look forward to science live, its so much fun!
Hi from Georgia!!! TO any R-51 fans out there, He’s so funny!
My mom has a cd with music that she made
Ooo I love this its so cool!
I never know what I’m going to learn with your videos!
Can the tubes be turned into a larger structure?
Wow another amazing episode!!!!!:) 🙂 YAYYYY!!!!
I’m very excited to hear about the science fair!
Quite educational (though, it’s to be expected given this is part of a school program) and interesting!
Thank you for always teaching so many cool things on Science Live!
this course is really cool and fun.
I love watching the Proteges!!
r51 is so funny!
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i learn new things everyday with acellus
Another great science live!!!
I really like the spoons-as-conductors demo
R-51 is so silly!
i learned carbon nanotubes are 100x stronger than steel and super conductive of heat and electricity
I like science live.
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this was so gooddddd!
It’s so cool learning in depth of how vacuums work and what it its main function!
I liked Dr. John’s section about the carbon material; It was very interesting. I also liked Tobias’s part about the floppy drive and CDs.
I love this I learn so much from this!
Learning something new every time!
The lightest tennis racket is the best idea ever!!!!
I love R-51!! He is so funny
This is such an educational video!
Dr. John, hexagons really are the bestagons.
Amazing episode!!
R-51 is SO funny 😆 The science fair sounds like it will be fun 🤩