Vacuum Tube Computing
February 4, 2026 • EPISODE 296
How did computers go from filling entire rooms to fitting in your hand? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings and the Protégés explore vacuum tube computing and the technology that launched the digital age. Hear stories about early machines, the Billings Computer, and floppy disks as Dr. Billings shares his firsthand experiences helping shape modern computing.
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 loved this episode!
Interesting video, looking forward for more videos!
I enjoy science live. It explains a lot to me. It is very interesting that screen is tiny lightbulbs
this is beautful
Love the fun topics.
I liked when Dr. Tobias talked about the first computer.
Really interesting to learn that the military funded the computer.
r-51 is absolutely hilarious
I liked it when Dr. Tobias talked about the technology of how a rocket flies.
I really like how each teacher explains each topic differently!!! It really helps me understand the topics better!
Did any of the teachers take acellus courses before being acellus teachers?
This was such a great episode.
Thank you for the lesson, I found it very interesting.
Thank you that was very fun
I liked the student edition of the video at the end! Very good editing
I learn something new every week!
I like how you can see led if you look up close
Wow, What An Episode!!!!
These are always so interesting!
Hi! I Really love Acellus, thank you Acellus for this leasson, it was interesting!
I love watching and listening to science live
I love Acellus. I finished my civics class today
It was cool how the AI data center uses water for cooling down the system.
These videos are cool to watch!
Thank you for the lesson very very interesting!
It was interesting to learn more about the moon landing, thank you for the great episode!
Great Episode! Thanks
Thank you for everthing the teachers do i loved this lesson thank you science live.
Does vacuum computing similar to how lightbulbs work?
I really enjoyed learning more about space in this video. I’ve been learning about the phases of the moon in science class and think it is so interesting!
I love all the episodes so much. Very interesting thank you.
So cool! I never new that is how computers got smaller!
The giant AI data center was cool.
Does vacuum tubes help computers think?
Love the talk about core rope memory! very interesting and cool to know
I love learning from Accellus !
I love watching r-51 each Science Live video! He makes me laugh every time.
R51 is fun to watch.
Another interesting episode. I enjoyed it.
How does pajet get her lashes to look so nice hahah!
Mom says we’re going to try to come in May- I hope we can!
Awesome episode! I learned so much!
Great work I loved this episode,Cant wait for next weeks!
Computer are awesome
I like learning about new things every week, thank you so much Acellus.
I liked the part when r 51 used the vacuum tubes for basic math. I want to learn more about vacuum tubes
Love watching!!!
There are studies on new ways to use hydrogen.
I really did enjoy watching this video and learning about how computers took a long time to build back then.Great Work!
These teachers and coordinators seem so passionate about what they do. I love to see it!
I loved learning about how computers work!
doesnt have to do with the live but, could there be a periodic table button for the chemistry class so you dont have to pull one up from online?
Acellus World looks so fun. I would love for Acellus World to travel to different states so we all can attend. It would be an Acellus World Tour. Thanks for making learning so fun.
Comment oh my goodness so cool. I love that episode. It makes me also appreciate the people that took their time to create computers thank you so much learned a lot *
I really how each teacher explains each topic in detail and explores the subject
i loved this weeks science live
this was pretty interesting to learn! Keep these live streams up!
What is the main issues with Vacuum Tubes?
Time for me to figure out my code name!
I love new technology!
I love learning from science live every week!
I didn’t know that’s how computers worked.
I learned so much this week about computers. I can not wait to see how far computers will take us in the future. Technology and science are so exciting.
We should put solar panels on a planet close to the sun to give us more natural power.
I had this live on while I was making a painting, it was really informative and while I waited for layers to dry, I watched the science live. Very cool 🙂
I love r-51 heart 🙂
Great episode ya’ll! People are so smart (smarter than me anyway) haha!
That was a good analogy about trying to hit the moon with a dart with how difficult the timing is with all the spinning parts.
I learned some much from this video!!!
Computer screens are cool. I like computer history
I would hate to debug one of those woven codes.
Are they ever going to go to the Moon again
I loved this!!
Ones and zeros are a complicated language! Great job Margret Hamilton. She saved the mission to the moon a long with her 4 year old daughter. I love it when they pretend to go back in time. This was a great episode of Science live with the vacuum tube computing.
I always love to hear what Mr. Tobias has to say, it’s always so interesting!
It’s amazing how smart people are. To be able to come up with all this stuff.
I love how the teacher explains everything, it’s so informative!!
Science lives have the coolest information!
Did they make a system that track the moon and where it will be at all times?
DO MORE ON computers pleeeeeease
watching from Norco, CA
Good job mr.billings!
This was really interesting!
In NASA, people were the super computers because they had to check all the calculations. Makes me think of the movie “Hidden Figures” with the famous mathematician Kathrine Johnson who worked for NASA as their human computer.
What are computer chips made of?
science live is always great
Space is definitely the way forward!
Why it is chosen 1 and 0 for it? Why couldn’t be A and B, or A and Z?
i was wondering if you guys can do a class about nature a little bit please
I love r-51!!! (:
Vaccum tubes was interesting but I liked the part about space.
I liked the space mission.
I was trying to do my name in code, but I gave up lol. And while r-51’s lesson might have been a bad use of time, we homeschoolers have more time than most!
this episode was about vacuum tubes
That is a lot of handwritten code! You guys are hilarious!
I really liked learning about the first landing on the moon! So awesome
vacume tubes are interesting
I loved learning about vacuum tubes and how they were used in computing!
Space mission was cool.
The space story was facinating
Absolutely loved it
i think this can teach us about everything about the past for computers
First, we heard a bit about Acellus World coming up. There will be exhilarating events like meeting teachers and attending graduation ceremonies. If you can’t go, they set up a video so that you can see it all even if you cannot in person. You can even meet Roger Billings himself, our esteemed principle!
Next, we learned about the moon. Getting to the moon is an archaic procedure because you cannot send the spaceship to where the moon is. You must find where the moon will be in three days and then send the spaceship to the projected location. On that note, you also must spend the least amount of energy, time, and money to get there. When Buzz Armstrong came to the moon, there were five errors before they could land which shows that the Moon is extremely hard to land on.
Finally, we heard from R-51 who tried to explain vacuum tubes but failed. He thought that counting how many vacuum tubes he had would give him the correct answer. I wish he knew how to not get into silly antics.
The way how far computers has developed and became so much more advanced is crazy.
The story about the space mission was interesting
This was an amazing science live episode, I enjoy Science Live because it’s an amazingly educational series hosted by the Acellus Team themselves, I loved learning about filming crews, and many other things!
I can’t wait to see what we are learning today
Hi this science live was super interesting!
I love to watch Science Live, this was a great episode!
Good episode, I loved the description of the vacuum tubes.
So cool to learn about that aspect of the moon landing!
So cool. R51 is so funny.
didn’t know AI used that much electricity
What year was morse code invented?
Acellus is a wonderful program.
It was very interesting learning about how computers are made.
I learned so much, thank you for doing this every week
Sometimes ya’ll are too smart for me!
Very interesting lesson, also loved the Proteges video.
01100111 01110010 01100101 01100001 01110100 00100000 01100101 01110000 01101001 01110011 01101111 01100100 01100101
(Great episode!)
The best thing in Acellus is that everyone teacher explains their topic in interesting captivating way!
Really enjoyed learning about the delay youbhave to use when traveling to the moon. Very interesting.
I like what Dr. John talked about.
Hello from Texas!
Heyy guys from mississippi!!!
I LOVE ACELLUS!! I LOOVEE SCIENCE LIVE!!!!
It was fun learning how computers are made
I learned about vacuum tube computers
I loved the history and science
Great episode, didn’t know you could use numbers to explain letters in code.
This was so much fun.
It is truly crazy how far computers have evolved!
So educational! Wowzers!
First, we heard a bit about Acellus World coming up. There will be exhilarating events like meeting teachers and attending graduation ceremonies. If you can’t go, they set up a video so that you can see it all even if you cannot in person. You can even meet Roger Billings himself, our esteemed principle!
Next, we learned about the moon. Getting to the moon is an archaic procedure because you cannot send the spaceship to where the moon is. You must find where the moon will be in three days and then send the spaceship to the projected location. On that note, you also must spend the least amount of energy, time, and money to get there. When Buzz Armstrong came to the moon, there were five errors before they could land which shows that the Moon is extremely hard to land on.
Finally, we heard from R-51 who tried to explain vacuum tubes but failed. He thought that counting how many vacuum tubes he had would give him the correct answer. I wish he knew how to not get into silly antics.
How did code become a thing?
As in how does it work; I would think to create code….wouldn’t you need to code?
This is very good
Extremely hyped up for Acellus World even though i wont be able to go. But at least the video exists.
It reminds me of the coding we do.
I felt like I learned a lot listening to this!
I have a vacuum tube I got from my grandfather who was an X-ray technician. Is that the same type of vacuum tube that an early computer would have?
I really how each teacher explains each topic in detail and explores the subject
I really how each teacher explains each topic in detail and explores the subject.
I want to learn code! That’s pretty cool!
roger is a good person
The picture of the moon was cool.
Margaret Hamilton’s four year old actually saved the moon landing mission, because her accidental flipping of a switch gave her mother the idea to write a code to prioritize how the computer on board operated. Amazing!
I really wanted to thank everyone who helps put this together and teach the students incredibly valuable information that will hold up in later years,Thank you so much for using your time in such a wise way.
I didnt know the moon landing was so cool ! Computers can be helpful
Are you able to use the water used to cool off the ai multiple times? Or is it unusable after once?
I love Acellus!
r51 is so funny oh i love science live!!!!!!
i love acellus!
Can you do an episode on wall sockets?
Thanks for the lesson! It was interesting!
Another great video this week!
Thank you for another great lesson!
What is my name in code
I learned a lot this episode! Thanks!
I liked the part about the moon landing the best!
Computers in space! What about computers under the ocean?
Great episode, happy early Valentines Acellus!
So cool!!! The part about the space mission was so interesting!!!
The story about the space mission was interesting.
Thanks for this video! I enjoyed this Science Live.
My name’s Hannah too!
what are computer chips made of?
Coming from a girl who willingly had a computer class at my in-person school in the past and had a good grade in that class, I can tell you what I learned about computers chips. All schools are different, so some people may or may not have learned this . They taught me that computer chips are made from silicon, a semiconductor, and metal. The class also taught me that the sand used to make those chips is made of silicon.
They are made through a complex process known as photolithography, where layers of materials are built up on a silicon wafted and then selectively removed through various processes to form the electronic circuits. The process involves multiple steps including oxidation, deposition, photomasking, etching, and doping.
I can’t say I’m a pro when it comes to parts of a computer and the many functions to them, but I am an open book when it comes to talking about them.
Hope you have an amazing week, and hope you learned something new, Juniper! 💜
I am so happy to be a student this program
I like r51
I wonder when us earthlings will colonize mars, it’s really a matter of time.
So fun to watch!
r51 is the best !
Love these lives! Hi from IL!!!
R-51 Cracks me up!
I loved learning about the origin of how the computer was made!
I liked learning about how the computers were made
What is vacuum tube computing?
Another great science live.
learning about how computers were made was really cool.
wonderful video can’t wait for next week
This video taught me so much. I loved it so much.
They should’ve listened to Margret in the first place!
Thank you so much for the video
I think it would be better to put the data centers in space.
I thought a vacuum tube was the tube on the vacuum cleaner that gets clogged with lent lol
I like all science live episodes. They’re always so entertaining and I learn a lot from them.
I love vacuum tubes!
I never knew that about the weaving. Very cool!
I love science live
I learned a lot thank you!
I do coding and I can’t imagine having to hand write all of it. She had stacks and stacks of paper! Amazing!
Thank for for another entertaining lesson! 😀
I love learning new stuff from Science Live every week.
I love the video the protégés make with the inventors
I always learn so many new things!
from texas computers have evolled so much its crazy
This video helped me learn so much!
I liked learning about computers
Awesome as always.
I just love learning new stuff whenever I watch these lives!
Hello from Ohio.
I love this program!!!
thank you for the opportunity to learn more about science!
This episode was very interesting
MIND BLOWN!!!
If there are actually going to be a million satellites launched would we be able to see them? What happens to satellites when they are outdated? How long would it take to launch that many?
The Science Live’s are my favorite part of being an Acellus student!
Very interesting! The changes in computers since back then is crazy.
I love science live!
If one data center like XAI uses soooooo much power to run it imagine how much power is needed to run all the AI data centers including Google! MIND BLOWN!!! 🤯
Since Mr. Edmond is teaching a class on the conspiracy theory at the convention, will this class be available to take next year?
I really hope it will be!!! 😀
I Love r51!!
Vacuum Tube Computing is a very intriguing topic! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about it and its uses.
What are all the components to create hydrogen power?
I am so happy with Acellus!
This was a great experience!
I wonder what will the future will hold for us with the great minds of past, present, and future?