Vacuum Tube Computing
February 4, 2026 Β β’Β 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 ProtΓ©gΓ©s 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 βDrBβ 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 DrBβs lifelong commitment to supporting education, Science LIVE was launched as a way to βgive backβ by mentoring students in conjunction with the Roger Billings Scholarship Program.
Read more about DrB Β»Β
About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program Β»
This video was awesome, as were all your other videos!
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It ia always interesting to watch science live!
These episodes are so engaging!
now I understand what my dad means when he talks about logic gates (which he does way too often)
as a fiber artist I love the idea of weaving a program.
I’m looking forward to Acellus world!
It was very interesting learning about the history of binary coding!
Science live is so cool! This is a bit off topic but I think a really cool class to have would be architecture; I’m really passionate about it and I think it would be cool if you guys added a architecture class.
How much time did it take to encode the memory for the rope computer?
I thought this was cool and I could understand it
I always enjoy Science Live for its great mix of entertainment and learning. Canβt wait for next week!
I liked learning that people who worked at NASA didnβt launch a rocket on the moon because they couldnβt get something for the rocket to get it to work because it was expensive and they couldnβt get something that is like a computer, vacuum tubes are like computers and John Hechley invented his own radios.
Accelus teaches me amazing things each week.
Learning that computers is just a bunch of 1s and 0s in mind blowing.
I wonder how much water we really use. I might go to acellus world!
Comment Great episode thank you acellus!
This episode of Science Live was engaging and very entertaining! The Proteges’ and Inventioneers’ humor felt modern and fit the topic well, which made learning from them even more enjoyable.
The space mission was really cool.
WOW THAT IS SO AMAZING!
Even today people press buttons on accident
Wow, i didnt even know that there was sutch a thing as vacuum tube computing til now,great job explaining everything
Amazing live as usual!
I like that they teach us about Electronics
I never realized how hard it was to get to the moon until watching this
Another great presentation. Thank you
Great episode! Love learning more Acellus !
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Learning about how computers were made was interesting
Learning about how computers were made is neat .
I liked learning about how computers where made!
i love the proteges
I love how Science Live has new interesting topics every week!
Very interesting, I love science
The fact that computers use to be as big as a room and now can fit into our pockets is so incredible. We appreciate the technology that we are able to use today, it even allows us to attend Acellus, which is really important to us because being able to do school from home makes me safe and I can learn at my own pace. I also love being able to review as much as I need to, because not understanding something the first time and having to move forward can be very overwhelming. Thank you for Acellus and the tech that is provided.
I’m so happy about what I’ve learned tonight! Thank you! Happy early Valentines day!
Do you think that we will go back to the moon?
What type of material is used for the tubing?
what if they went straight to the rocket launch instead of doing a simulation would things go horably wrong or would things be ok?
Computers are cool to learn about
Great episode! I loved the proteges movie, it was funny and informative! Thank you all, have a nice day!
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great video I like how much they explain everything
R5 1ST gets a gold medal for trying. π
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here in suburban Chicago!
i hope everyone has a great valentines day!
That was such a good episode!!
Science Live never fails to teach me something new, thank you all.
this episode was very helpful and informative! Thank you.
I heard you guys talking about hydrazine so I was wondering, can we get a chemistry class?
If they keep putting things in space, how are we going to be able to see the stars?
THIS EPISODE IS SO WONDERFUL!!! THANK YOU FOR EVER THING YOU DO!!!
R-51 is great to learn about!
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I love how they explain everything
That new material that can contain hydrogen is actually more useful than one might think, since hydrogen lives up to most gas propellant standards like it’s temperature and pressure, so this material will also be good with most other gases like nitrogen.
Can X-AI and Space-X work in outer space in satelites and the satelites to not fall back to Earth?
Science Lives are so interesting!
I liked learning about binary.
Learning about how computers are made is one of my favorites if not my favorite π
my mother told me about the floppy disk and showed me a photo of what it looks loke
Loved the video canβt wait for more of exciting news!!!
This is so interesting to learn about!
try to watch the moon to see where it going build a small but capable rocket fuel it and try to predict the moons patterns me and my little sister roman watched this together
I’m so excited about the accelus world
I canβt believe R-51 tried to explain vacuum tubes but failed. Thatβs so strange!!
Thank you for this awesome information!
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I loved this lesson, thank you so much
Love learning about binary and how it works with computers!
My dad is not a fan of the AI data center being built near our house. Heβs a big fan of putting them in space.
How many people and how long did it take to make the memory on the apollo mission central computer?
Acellus World sounds interesting! That might be a cool thing to attend!
Wonderful episode, loved the space mission story thought it was very interesting.
From vacuum tubes to smartphones in our hands- technology really evolved fast. This episode is a cool reminder of where modern computing began
How was a cassette tape made?
i like how every teacher goes into detail about the subjects
Canβt wait for next weekβs live, Science Live is awesome!
Pretty cool video.
I thought it was a little comical that they hired weavers to weave a bunch of technology to help us go to space! π It really shows that it took help from everyone to make it that far!
I love science live
i learned so much from this, thank you so much.
HII FROM CALIFONIA.
Here from Texas!
These are genuinely the highlight of my week!
I love vaccum tubes!
I love acellus.
The moon piece was super interesting!
Building a keyboard was AWESOME and how the disk works too.
Thanks!
Margaret is so cool!
What is the vacuum tube computing? *
Acellus world looked amazing!!
Binary is cool.
I love watching this every week and r-51 is always so funny to watch
Great Science Live! I want to figure out my name in code now!
it’s so interesting to learn how computers work I mean I use them everyday.
Itβs really cool to know how computers have evolved over the years!
Wow! This was a very interesting science live video, I loved learning about R-51!
It’s amazing how we are taking such normal things like hydrogen and converting them into efficient energy through fuel cells.
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Not far from were I live in Illinois meta is opening AI system near a Nuclear power plant. Because it has the the power the plant can provide and the lake which feeds the plant can help thier AI cooling.
Another great episode! I can’t wait to watch Acellus World.
There is so much to learn about computers.
There is so much to learn about computers.
This was a very interesting video! I enjoyed it.
The technology spotlight was great today. Loved learning about things affecting modern life. We have a data center being built near us.
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I’m interested about how computer chips are coded will you do a lesson on that?
I just finished watching and learning about binary in my alegbra classes. It was interesting and very complicated at the same time.
I hope Iβll be able to go to Acellus world! Besides that it was a really cool video.
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This weeks video was really interesting! Thanks for the amazing work!
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Hello from Michigan! Favorite episode by far π€
This episode of science live was very interesting. I learned about the binary code system for the first time. I also found the part about how the electromagnetic switch worked to be super cool.
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I love how the teachers explain everything in depth. Amazing.
Wow this is amazing i never knew that, i mean everyone should watch this!
Vacuum tubes are cool, I didn’t know we used them in computers.
WOW THAT WAS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!
Does acellus have any photography classes?
I learned so much from this video!
so helpful I love Acellus
So computers were big but how did they find out they could make computers smaller?
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I didnβt realize how hard it is to travel to the moon, because everything is moving including the moon.
I always look forward to the prodeges and the inventioneers!
thank you I learned a lot about this interesting lesson photoagrephy
Love these videos every week! So cool how there are different topics every time.
The inventioneers made a cinematic masterpiece this episode haha! Binary code is so cool π
It’s so interesting to see how computers are made!
thanks for thank you for your time I learned a lot about geogerphy
This is a great science live.
You guys know how to explain things and help understand them so easy, Thanks for the lesson.
I really enjoyed this lesson thanks.
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loved it, cant wait for next week
This episode was really interesting and fun to watch I loved learning about how many vacuums are in cell phones.
The prodigies are sooo funny!! Thatβs my fav part!
I really like Tobias how explains things where one can understand the subject more easily.
Hey, I also like weather! The Desk Calculators look like typewriters! What if we reversed binary?
amazing video thanks for teaching us so much
Imagine data centers in space!
This was a really informative episode! Dr. Billings had some super interesting points.
This episode is great. Love from IL!
r51 I feel like you knew that 2 +2 =4.
I loved learning about binary code!
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Has the Acellus team considered an application for smart TVs? I would love for that addition so I can watch Science Live with my family!
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The moon landing was incredible!
This one was interesting!
It surprises me that it took 3 days to get to the moon. How do I get to do the science fair at Acellus World?
I am learning about code in AP Computer Science Principles.
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this program is so uplifting.
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Thank you for the lesson and explaining in detail about everything I ever want to learn.
Another awesome science live!
I love little Rπ
Great episode! I loved learning about the moon!
I knew getting to the moon would be tricky, but I didn’t think it would be THAT difficult!