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 »
Excellent live
Thank you
Honesty is the most important thing ever!!
I love science live!
amazing live
hi From Ohio
Best live I’ve watched yet
I love how engaging dr billing makes science
so excited to learn new things!
I can’t believe the USB came from Dov Maron’s computer not working, luckily it worked out in the end! It ended up being a very useful tool.
I love watching these but I been busy
can you make more funy r51 videos
Science live is the best way to learn!!
very informative and super interesting great live
Thank you for the video.
Hi from CT
I believe that honesty is the best policy as referred.
Hi from texas
Thank you for a great experience
nice video!
Honesty is always good! Great video.
very informative session. Thank you for these lessons
I totally agree that everyone should be honest!
Honesty is really the best policy!
Carbon nano tubes are pretty cool !
A vacuum tube amplifier or valve amplifier uses heated glass vacuum tubes to boost electronic signals
i love science
I can definitely respect honesty
It’s absolutely incredible how carbon nano tube’s are 100 times stronger than steel! Ontop of that I learned that they’re also 1,000 times longer than their diameter!
For sure ! If it hard keep going if you know whats good for you. How thankful we are for Acellus
I liked learning about the bacteria they will use to make sunscreen because I always thought that bacteria was bad for you!
I love science live.
Joining from SC!!!
I would love to participate in a science fair!
Great science video this week, loved it!
Thank You!
Acellus is great!
I thought the carbon tubes were very fascinating!
This was a super cool live !
Science for the win!
Amazing episode!!!!!!
honesty is good
I love how Dr. Billings explains things.
What made scientists in Japan get the idea to study bacteria to make sunscreen more friendly for the environment?
THANK YOU for videos to watch to learn about science
Honesty before anything!
As an honest person myself, I love hearing about honesty!
Science live is so cool always learn something new!
I am happy to be back from Christmas break.
Great lesson!
It was awesome learning about carbon nano tubes.
loved all of this live! super informative on so much cool things
Here from NY!
This was my first episode and I really enjoyed it 🙂
I believe that being honest is truly something that is amazing
maybe this is not for hydrogen but we are right now trying to learn about high and low acid in our bodies that cause acid reflux. Wish we were more edicated in that.
I think that it’s great that scientists are going to make phone and car batteries better. They are going to use carbon nano tubes in lithium ion batteries which will make the batteries last longer and holds more power and make the life of the battery last longer.
I like to read mysteries to.
I like the coding using batteries like doctor John
I always found the homemade radio thing with the cups so cool
This was super fun to watch!! Thank you!!
thank you
i love r51 *
i think the power going though the sppons and magnet were really cool.
wow, hydrogen cars are very interesting.
i liked this science live
Thank you acellus live! i look forward to it every week
It’s fascinating how we’ve advanced so much in technology.
I loved the cup phone.
Thanks for the good information!
Thank you so much for this live!! Hellow from minnesota!
Hello from NY
science lives teach so much
a space elevator???!!! wow!!!!!!
I love learning from science live!!!!
My Mom was listening with me who is Russian. She said the Babushka scarf also refers to Russian nesting dolls (Matryoshka). Hopefully Dr. Billings can find Jane Braden.
acellus is the best
I lived this live I hope for more like this one
Thank you for making theses videos, always learning something new.
Great Videos!
luvvvv science!!!! Luvvvv science live!!!!! Luv acellus!!!!! And luv seeking the truth bc knowledge really is power and the truth really can set us free !!!!! Real wisdom real love real alignment with nature.. The ultimate power !!!!!! ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I loved learning about honesty!
My grandson loves science live learning new things
This was a great science live, loved the dedication in his projects.
it is cool
In this episode, I learned that, theoretically, carbon nano tubes could be used to create a “space elevator”, a cable that could carry enormous weights up into space. 🌌
The carbon tubes are super interesting! And once again the space elevator is mind-blowing. I wonder if it could really exist someday!
Comment I love learning about science! *
I have used a string and cup for fun before.
It was cool to learn about flash drives! I wonder how the original flash drive differs from flash drive today and how much storage can be held in ones today?
It’s always good to be honest.
This is the second time i’ve watched science live! it’s so interesting! i’ve never been to a science fair before, it would be nice to go to one myself!
Thank you
Extraordinary episode Dr. Billings!
I loved this episode!
honesty this science live is amazing
R51 is so funny
Why are carbon nanotubes considered very strong?
pretty interesting video
its so cool how a vacuum tube amplifier works.
Honesty is always the best way!
It is important to be honest and will help you reach your goals.
I LOVE steam engines.
I am so excited for Acellus World!
Thank you for being honest
Honesty has always been most important to me.
So fascinating!
It’s so incredible to know the story of the USB drive! cause it’s something i use so often and that’s so useful to me.
Honesty is the best policy.
Honesty is probably one of the most important things. Great live.
Its really mind blowing to even think that there could actually be a space elevator!!!
Honesty is precious to man, It is one if the best traits!
This episode helped me understand how vacuum tube amplifiers work by controlling the flow of electrons to make weak signals louder. It was cool learning how this technology was used back then and how it’s being used now.
cool video.
I’m emotional too sometimes.its ok to be emotional
I Love science live!!
Honesty should be within everyone!
I think everyone should have honesty. Awesome live!
I 100% agree
This was super interesting!!!
true
tuning in from GA!
It was interesting to learn about how USB flash storage came about.
For sure !!! keep going even when its hard !!! so true and so thankful for Acellus
Love you guys!
Good advice.
Same!
have a good day
I’m glad science live is back!
love the concept in the episode! These science lives are the highlights of my week!
This episode was amazing!
loved this episode of science live. very interesting
I thought it was interesting how strong carbon nano tubes really are.
I’ve been learning about the ideas of the hydrogen car and i jus think it’s so crazy how far technology has come to be able to push thousands of pounds off hydrogen, oxygen, and water. I remember a while ago Dr. Billings actually explained the process in a full detailed way as a Science Life, i wish i could find that video again sometime.
I love Science Live!
science live is amazing 🙂
This episode was really good!
My favorite episode yet!
this was great!!
love the videos
Science is cool!
this was fireee!!!
I recently bought some tubes for an amplifier I own, cool to know more about the technology
I like the idea that science can be anything! I don’t know a lot about Science but it’s great when it can be anything! David and Caleb also got me hooked on science. They are doing great on telling the story behind science!
R51 is so funny. He is the best.
Wow this is amazing!
ready to watch!
this was wonderful
My favorite
part of the science live was R 51
I found it extremely interesting how small carbon tubes are, and how despite their tiny size, they are still stronger than steel. How extraordinarily fascinating it is to know this new information. I cannot wait for the next science live video!
That is so cool! Can’t wait for the next live!
Love learning about stuff like this
I loved learning about the radios!
Good science video
I love science live!!
I’m interested in learning more about carbon. I like this episode a lot!
I want to go on the nanotube space elevator!
How long is vacuum amplifier
I absolutely love my computer! Thankful for the technology that made it all possible 🙂
intresting live dr billings!!
I like hearing from the Acellus graduates!
This weeks Science live was really interesting! I especially enjoyed Dr. Johns talk about carbon nanotubes. It’s so crazy how strong they are!!
What curriculum did you use when you were in school?
I love science live so much!.
I love science and that was pretty cool
This video was so fun to watch and learn!
I love acellus!
This episode of science live was really good
This video was so fun!
Wow this was a interesting watch! Thank you for the science live 🙂
this is always so fun to watch
This episode was amazing!!
Great episode!
Learning about the Vacuum Tube was amazing!
Very interesting how they ‘grow’ carbon. Kind of scary too that something can grow to be so long. So they could also use it as fishing lines or electrical wires. Cool.
Could you use the new type of armor on tanks?
Sooo cool!!!
This is amazing
I enjoy Lady Paget as well, and find the conversations so interesting and funny!
It was cool to learn about the vacuum tube amplifier.
I wonder if there would be students demonstrating a cooking method as their science project at the science fair. Cooking is a science, too.
i want to learn more about metamorphosis
carbon is the future
And this was awesome
Thanks for this great live!
This video was interesting. Its pretty neat to learn on how little vacuum amplifier can operate.
amazing video
I love watching these each week
This science live was very intriguing.