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 »
Science live is the best!
I’m happy to watch! From Muscatine!
I love science live!!
I like the part when R51 said that he made a transistor to help animals cross the road.
loved this science live
I am really excited for Acellus World!!! I thought the radio show was hilarious.
So interesting
Hi Kris from TN and I’m excited for todays live.
This was a great episode!
thank you for this video, love it!
coolio!
Comment* It was neat to learn about transitors!
I love science live today 🙂
this was a great episode!
r51 is still the champion
Hi from South Carolina
This was awesome!!!
Nice to see as always
Incredible! Are they remote? What will the robot nats be used for?
Like learning about transistors.
acellus is so much fun
Such an inspiring video!
love it
Learning about Henry Ford is so cool!
Why do people get Migraines?
I like the new additons to science live
Amazing episode!
I loved this week’s episode!
Awesome video this week!
Hello from Nebraska!
Science Live is so fun!
I want a robot that flies
I like science live.
I love hearing the different upgrades added in Acellus.
The car part was really cool!
How dos the robot fly.
acellus the best for homeschool because it has everything!
The robot is so cool! It is like something out of a spy kids movie.
acellus the best for homeschool
I like the robot.
WOW!!!
this was another great epsiode! keep it up
I like science live.
I wish I had a robot.
The robot is very interesting and can do a lot.
MIT is my dream college, its amazing to go more in depth into what they do and practice there.
Hii from Egypt i love Acellus!!!
Loved learning about the Model T
the MIT robot is super cool and i’m so surprised that it can do so much.
I love Acellus.
I loved learning about Henry Ford.
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the robot was soooooo cute 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you Science Live!
I watched scienve live
Coolest live yet!
It is amazing that MIT’s robot is that small and capable of doing so much.
I enjoy Science Live every week.
This live was so interesting!
i liked this live today ! keep it up!!
AWESOME
Buying a pocket watch just to take it apart sounds like something I would do.
I love sharks there so cool
This is so cool I learned so many new things about science
its so cool how we have come this far
I loved this science live it was so interesting and cool!
how did Thomas E. make the light bulb?
It is crazy that it took Henry Ford 20 tries to build his car.
Hi I am from NC
so cool!!!!!!!! this is awesome but what do you call a mountain of cats a meowtian lol
this is so cool
I can study this every week! Good science live.
Do they have to make the wings and body for the robot that small for it to be able to move as fast as a bumblebee and if you make the body bigger could it still move as fast?
This one was pretty interesting! My favorite part was when Henry Ford was talked about.
Dr. Billings, what is your favorite piece of technology that you have worked on?
I really enjoyed this it was so cool.
this is so cool and interesting
That robot was so cool!!!
Will there be fun activities for 1st graders to engage in alomg with learning activities during science world?
These shows are INSPIRING!!! I rlly love the Protégés, r51 and the tiny robots that Dr. John introduced.
I loved the live this week!
Comment thank you acellus
How difficult is it to make a robot this small versus one that is bigger?
I love science live!
I learned something New today 🙂
Are kindergarteners encouraged to participate in the science fair as well? Is the dancing robot challenge returning this year?
It snowed a lot here but I liked this live a lot
There really is so much to learn from science live.
R51 is amazing
Science live is the best!
That robot is cool
What is a transistor, and why is it important in computers and electronics?
I love this
What is your favorite scientific discovery of 2025?
Science live is my favorite part of the day
that was a awesome episode
it’s always a good day when you make a new video
this vido was awesome
It was pretty interesting to see how transistors work. I didn’t know anything about them before.
I learned so much from this science live!
I love science live!!
excited to learn about this!
I love you guys
This was cool.
this is so cool omg!
Its cool that Henry Ford thought of a assembly line
Hi, I absolutely loved learning about transistor and for why Henry Ford named his first car Model T. Thank you for the science live.
I have a question for pajet. Have you ever thought of becoming a therapist?
I love Acellus
Yes the recovery mode is very helpful!
Wow! This was such a GOOD science LIVE!!!
Yeah! it was
Vacuum tube are cool (▼⌣▼)
i love it
Always interesting!
Acesllus is truly amazing!
Vacuum tubes are cool
Love!
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know right!
I love acellus!!! the radio show was so funny!!
Proteges are so funny!
I love acellus.
All of the weekly shows were really entertaining and interesting but the one show that caught my eye was the quality of the prodigies show it was amazing executed and super funny and actually explained transistors pretty well… hope to see all the shows again next week thank you for the science live!
I liked learning about Henry Ford
Sooo cool!
I liked when Dr John talked about the flying bug MIT robot that flies really fast.
Science rocks
How do speaker amplifiers work?
What happened when R51 put all those traffic cones on the road?
This was a good one always keep me interested !
love seeing the robot, my fav class so far!
Very interesting, thanks for a great science live.
enjoyed the background of transistors
i love science live
I like all this science you talk about.
Why are transistors used as switches in digital circuits?
I love acellus
Thank you science live!
I love Science Thanks for the lessons!
THIS IS SO COOL
I like technology, I’m happy I can do school online because of small things like transistors making it happen (:
Great episode this week!!
It is amazing how something so small can be so intelligent and powerful!
I didn’t know Henry Ford accomplished so much! Or that it took him so many tries to create the model t!
acellus is the best
Thank you
I like acellus
Those tiny drones would be great for search and rescue, mostly for the search part.
I’m glad Henry Ford decided to push through and created the first model T car! I like to walk but not for hundreds of miles!
I loved learning about old cars and the robot
Thank you for teaching me how germanium plays a huge factor in transistors.
I am always amazed how inventions come out!
I will help Area 51 save the kitty cats, I am glad that I learned about a transistor.
it is so cool that you guys do science live
The MIT flying robot is such a cool invention!
this was a great video.
I love acellus
how did we ever create transitors?
This was a very interesting episode for me!
awsome!! love this
This was an amazing lesson, its like every science live I learn something that I didn’t know like how transistors play a crucial part in modern electronics in appliances like tv’s, radio’s and more.
thank god for acellus it gives me flexibility to be at my best
i love watching science live every week it is awesome!
Really enjoyed it this week!
robots are the future to human stay alive
The MIT flying robot is amazing!!! I will have to do more research into the new tech coming out of MIT! Thanks for introducing me to it
Do you know exactly. how long the sharks can stay out of the water?
Loved learning about the MIT robot and more about Henry Ford! Science lives are always full of new knowledge.
I love watching science live!
sharks are one the smarts and firece animials
Amazing episode!
Loved this.
I loved this science live!
loved this episode!
Yay! Another cool science live! Also, I love sharks. c:
What is a transistor?
I love science live!
The call show bit was great this stream! Transistors and resistors are so cool.
Excited for this episode
the tech around the world gets better by the day
What a great science live!