Transistors
January 21, 2026 • EPISODE 294
What is a transistor and why is it important? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings explores how transistors control electric current, replaced bulky vacuum tubes, and made modern electronics possible—from radios to computers and smartphones. The episode also features a tiny bug-like robot developed by MIT and the fascinating story of Henry Ford and how Thomas Edison influenced the development of the automobile.
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 »
the tiny robot was awesome
Ever since I took my first class with my robot in Acellus I find it so interesting. This is a neat video looking forward to next week.
Science Live is AWESOME! I really want to go there in real life some time. Also R51 is the funniest ever!
I knew Henry Ford created cars but never knew he was working on a pocket watch
How close are we to the possibility of intelligent ai?
It was very interesting learning about the history of Henry Ford, especially since I went to the Ford Factory a couple of years ago.
That tiny robot was really cool.
Such interesting stuff, I love science live!
cant believe you can see this comment because science
i loved this science live.
i love science live.
lol I feel like that noise (fly) in your ear that won’t go away is teasing you.
I love science! It’s the coolest subject out all of the subjects.
I love R51
Crazy to think there were 19 models before the model T.
cool live
I enjoyed the part about Henry Ford! My mom has a Ford car! 😀 I didn’t know he worked with pocket watches.
I have never heard of Epaulette sharks, and now I am very intrigued!
I learned a lot from this video, it was interesting!
Had a great time learning about henry ford and the creation of automobiles.
This episode was entertaining
Another great science live!
hi from massachusetts
I absolutely love biology, so getting the chance to learn about a new shark is awesome!
I intent on learning more about epaulette sharks.
Hello from Palau !
love R51 this is an awesome lesson
Who made the fly robot?
I love science. One of my favorite was the polar bear I like that they have black skin and white fur.
r51 is crazy.
This was a nice video, didn’t think it’ll get this cold today though lmao
I think it’s awesome how they make animal type robots.
That was a great explanation of transistors. It would be great to have those guys explain how we go from there to chips.
I did not know who Henry Ford was and that he invented the assembly line
This was very interesting, and fun to watch.
How expensive is it to create a robotic insect?
R51 sisters and robots, hope you all had a good week
Very interesting
I like the little robot!
I love watching these vids
This was a great episode!
I hope to use transistors when I get older thanks for telling me about them
It’s amazing how smart phones are made possible by transistors!
MIT makes some very cool things!
Love R51, it’s always cool to learn about robots.
It’s been really cool having David and Caleb on these last few lives. Thank you all! Have a blessed day or night
Great video loved it *
i love science!!!!
Interesting!!!
I can’t come to the science fare thing.
That is brilliant.
These episodes never fail to learn me something new!
How is a transistor benefiting the world?
Very interesting! I love the part about the species of shark.
The robot is so cute.
How do transiters work?
very cool
I love how the first guy talks about how there is a shark breed that can walk on land if the area they are in dry’s up so they can walk to the ocean. I also like how Dr John talks about how MIT made a tiny robot that actually fly’s. Another thing I like is how these tiny robots that MIT made fly’s as fast as a bug. I liked how the tiny robot has really strong wings that don’t break easily I think the wings are really cool. Another thing I liked about the video is how Dr Tobias talks about how Henry Ford worked himself up to a higher position. I also liked how he made 20 cars before making the T20 and everyone wanted one. The only reason that Ford got there is because Edison believed in Ford to make a car that would be wanted by everyone. Years later Ford made another car and sent one to Edison. I also liked how Dr Tobias talked about how Dr R. Billings used his fathers Ford A to make somewhat of the first hydrogen car. I love learning on Acellus its easy to use and I don’t have to wake up at 6 am anymore to go to school thank you for giving me that.
I have always liked robots. They flying one was really neat.
What a great video. So much to learn about
Robots are so cool!
That robot is crazy
I thought that it interesting that the model T only took 90 minutes to assemble. I also liked the flying robot with strong wings.
r51 is hilarous!
I liked learning about the Ford Model T, and the use of the assembly line.
Very great video! Very entertaining, and I appreciate what Acellus has done for me and my sis. Thank you so much
I love R51!
i love r51 he is the best and i thought the rodot was cool
I loved this weeks live, hopefully ill be visiting the campus this summer
Very cool!
I love the tiny robot! Can’t wait for the next one!
Dr. John showed me interesting mini-robots. He said that they could eventually used for search and rescue. Tobias told me about Henry Ford. He tried to invent the horseless carriage. Eventually he turned that idea into the Model T car. He made thousands of them and made the process a lot quicker using an assembly line which had not been used ever before. That was the key to his huge success. David and Caleb talked about transistors and how they were invented in the 1940’s. They made computers way smaller and faster than they were in the past. They are a huge key to the new technology that we have now.
I love the tiny robot that MIT is working on. I didn’t know you could make a robot that small.
*love learning new thins on Acellus. Can’t wait for next week
Great video this week!
Cool!!
I find it really cool how Henry Ford made the horseless carriage
I really like the robot bee that could fly it looks like my sisters toy drone.
I cant believe they could make so many cars in one day!
I thought the Area 51 video was funny.
i love the robot! i’m so grateful for this program
Cool to learn about Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s influence. Thanks
I like the science live. Why do they have transistor in machines? I think transistors are cool and useful.
love your science
Watched this with my whole family. We all enjoyed watching it and I thought the microprocessor story was cool.
First time watching science live! Watched it with the whole family, and we all really enjoyed it.
It is almost February! It is crazy that this year is already a month in 🙂
So cool!
Amazing science live! I loved diving deeper
Into computers!
My name is miles the part I liked about the video is where Caleb and David had you ask it we know it. Another part I liked about the video is the part about the news with the twin sisters where causing traffic jams because R51 wanted to save cats. I really liked the part where Dr Tobias talked about Henry Ford invention for cars the way Henry made over one million ford cars in a week. I liked the part where Caleb and David talked about the first small radio. I really loved the part where Roger Billings talked about ACELLUS WORLD how science live will be transferred to ACELLLUS WORLD. I liked where Tobias talked about Shockley and his friends create the radio.
i learn more and more each one of these lives!!
Amazing science live! I loved diving deeper into computers!
I love the robots!
awesome!
I liked learning about Henry Ford and his cars he made.
Very entertaining. I love R51!
Very interesting how the perfected making so many cars in a short time. I was also surprised at how early hydrogen cars were attempted. I thought this was more recent technology.
it was really good video
This will be my third or fourth comment in case others aren’t showing. I love cats as well. Also i think she should teich another course as well. I like her as a teacher.
It was really good to learn about Henry Ford!
This is so cool
I thought it was really cool and interesting that an Acellus Student coded and programmed to test her hypothesis. I also enjoyed the technology section of the video as well.
this was so very and inspirational.
Wow! This is so interesting!
Hello Dr Billings!
I love the robot you guys made!
wow this was fun to watch
Could the military use the robots or any the space force?
the MIT Bug robot is very cool, cant wait to see what is next for it.
Me and my Grandmother watch every week from North Carolina, I love Science Live, they keep getting better.
this program had been so helpful to me and now my next step is to get my robot as soon as possible
I didnt know you could make a robot that small!
The live was very entertaining! I enjoyed it.
hello from Ohio
I thought the robotic fly was incredible. It amazed me that the hardware was ahead of the software. That so rarely occurs. It was inspiring to learn that Thomas Edison encouraged Henry Ford to continue with his goal of producing an affordable car for the working people.
I love Acellus and Science!
What was MIT main purpose of making the robotic flys?
Science live time 😃
We knew a little bit about Henry Ford, But it is incredible how fast they were able to build back then.
Loving Acellus so much!
I love the small robot! you guys are so interesting.
INTERESTING
R51 being just as weird as usual, lol.
great video this week. very interesting
I love learning something new each week!
This is quite entertaining.
R-51 is so funny 🙂
So entertaining! Edison was like- BAM!!
Love the tiny robot :’)
this isawesomee!
i love science live
Another great video! I love learning about Henry. I also didn’t know it was possible to build a robot that tiny
Nice information about sharks. Thank for another great science live.
I had no clue that they made a tiny robot that imitates insects!!!!
Thanks for the new video and all of Acellus’s teachers and other Staff, including Caleb, David, Dr. Roger Billings, and R-51! Thanks for all of the helpful explanations. And David and Caleb’s “You ask it, we know it “Show, I liked that. thanks for the explanations and the how they helped the people asking questions, thanks to kindly them and everyone who kindly helped with the transistors and good stuff. hopefully: no hurtful shocks, sparks, or electrocutions happened/
It’s really interesting that Dr. Roger Billings got mentored by Bill Lear who got mentored by Thomas Edison. and thanks and congrats to Henry Ford. LIke when he was working for The Edison company and when he got a higher promotion and when he started his own company. and when he was making his cars. that’s great Thanks to him for trying to make pocket watches and cars more affordable too. sorry for when he got stuck. It’s also really interesting that Dr. Billings hydrogen car (thanks for that too and all the other safe hydrogen things) was his dad’s car. And thanks and congrats also to Reecha’s helpful and kind science fair project. It could be really amazing for everyone, I bet. Thanks to Dr. John explaining the MIT tiny bug robots, they are really neat as well. they can go really fast (hopefully they don’t get sick) and their wings don’t break easily, that is great. I hope they can do ggreat things as well as/for everyone else.
Thanks to Dr. Joseph for starting the video and: Dr. Roger Billings, Dr. Pajet Monet, Dr. Tobias, Dr. John, Dr. Joshua and everyone who helped.
Acellus World and the Science Fair sounds really fun! Have fun.
Thanks for explaining the Inventioneering process too. and for trying to get everyone to believe goodly in themselves and for Dr. Pajet Monet’s courses and if she makes new ones.
I also hope R-51 does helpful things, like for the cars on the road he talked about, I hope everyone crosses safely and hopefully his idea really helps ( other than the video he showed, if it showed him helping with his idea)
Thanks for the video and Happy Year! Good Luck to everyone’sg goals and g hopes and good thingss.
most excellent
I really enjoyed the segment about Henry Ford!
ya I get the retakes I almost always use them
Crazy how something as small as the twin sisters can make a such a big impact! This is hilarious!
When was the Edison company created?
This is fascinating – Henry Ford was a watchmaker before cars, I had never heard that nor had my parents who enjoy the History channel presentations at times.
Also MIT info is great and – love R51, awesome stuff. Thank you for this great episode! Grace from Texas
love this show
My Ganddad has a model A!
Super cool how Ford made their cars as affordable as possible
Comment I really enjoy learning about more about Henry Ford and Transistors.
I liked the robot
I love robots, it makes learning science fun!
so cool!
I LOVE SHARKS!!! Sharks are so awesome sauce! My favorite is the nurse sharks who are docinle in nature, and or the Greenland shark, the oldest shark as we know of!
I like learning about watches.
i cant believe I learned about henry ford! So cool!!
hello from illinois
I love science live so much!!
learning about transistors is fun
really enjoyed the video!
I am so glad about exam recovery mode
Awesome video!!
I love acellus so much
thank you
I always enjoy all the science news you give us every week!
I’m not sure how bees would feel about robots taking their jobs too. But cool!
Love the robots please different color robots!
The biology joke was funny.
This video is great!!
I am excited to see what I get to learn in this weeks science live,every week I learn something new!
Watching with my sisters –
Watching with my sisters – stay warm, everyone.
SAVE THE KITTY CATS
Iced in the house for days in Texas… hope everyone is safe and warm during this winter storm. Watching with my sisters.
The part about Ford and model t was interesting!
I did not know any shark could lay any egg!
What a cool lesson
I love science live!
This is Maddie from Ga We love when Caleb and David come on, they are so funny!!
watching from MO
this was really interesting!!
I loved the radio skit! One of my favorites so far.
robots can be that small?
Persistence pays off the effort. Amazing.