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 love science live I learn new things
this was amazing!!!!!!!
these are great!
How would storing hydrogen help with making fuel cells?
Crazy how much we have improved with computers and AI.
AI is so crazy compared to older technology wow
I can’t imagine using old computers
Awesome show!!!
This was so cool!
How do I translate my name into bianary?
My mom showed me a picture of the computer she used in high school. Big difference.
This was a very interesting episode can’t wait for the next one
I loved hearing about the moon.
I thought this video was just funny! R-51 was really great and amazing. I just loved it! 😀🤣😍😘😃😊😂😁🤩😎😃😹😺😸🫶🏻👏🏻
The ones about making delivers by air and i have been seeing that with amazon and some restaurants so you don’t have to go out.
Why was heat an issue for early computers using vacuum tubes?
Binary will never not be facinating to me in how two simple numbers can make up almost every function on our devices.
How did vacuum tubes act as switches for binary code?
ts crazy how much we have come from those early computers and how much energy AI uses now.
I didn’t know computers were so large back then, today they are so small now!
this is my favorite live yet!
I enjoyed the moon Segment.
Crazy how vacuum tubes started this all!
i think vacuums are cool
Computer transitioned from using large, discrete components like vacuum tubes.
Its crazy how much we have come from those early computers and how much energy AI uses now.
awesome video science live is the best
Today had such great info they talked about
the moon was cool to learn about
The history and evolution of these vacuum tubes and it’s capabilities is remarkable! Great Science live today!
Human advancement has come so far!
i wonder if the moon mission really happend ?
At first I thought that ,AI was drinking water. 😆
It was fun to learn about vacuum tube computing and I also really enjoyed the part on the moon mission!
The evelution of computers, how it looked then to how it looks now is just crazy cool to me! This was really fun to watch!
Wow such an amazing episode!
I am really starting to like Science more
Here from Florida. I liked this one.
So interesting how much energy AI takes.
I really enjoyed this video! I had no idea that AI uses more power during the learning process instead of the creation process that most people use AI for. I think sending the data centers to space would be a great idea. This would keep them very cold without using up the Earth’s water that we need.
a million satellites is crazy
Vacuum Tube Computing is sooo Cool!
I love technology!
Hi from Texas
I learned a lot from this video!
The photographer joke was hilarious.
This was an amazing video, thanks!
its pretty intresing on how far we have coume from the older computersto what computers that we have now and how good AI is and having the use of AI
elaina from illinois
Love to hear r Rogers
I didn’t know there was so much that went into going to the moon. So amazing.
it’s so cool to learn how we went from those old computers to what we have now!
Amazing just amazing
Absolutely Amazing
Really enjoyed this video!
Ive been wanting to know about vacuum tube computing for a while!
This was so interesting love the weekly videos.
Loved the live thank you Mr Roger’s billings and Ms lady Pajet Monet. Keep up the good work!❤️❤️
I love learning about computers
Computers have come far
Here from South Carolina!!
This was very interesting, thank you!
I love homeschooling these lives are always fun
Here from New Jersey!
Its very cool how the vacuum tube works and i love learning about the moon!
There was lots of interesting facts in this episode
I loved this video
Very cool video!
I love learning about all of this stuff. How much types of vacuum tubes are there?
Cool. I liked learning about the big glass tube that helps old computers work. Science is actually awesome!
from how big the first computer was to laptops now days and how small they can be!
AI is fascinating!
It is interesting how you can have mini laptops now. My Mom was telling me about floppy disk, and how large computers used to be.
2-4-26 Vacuum Tube Computing
vaccum tubes are electronic transistors
a transistor is a modern version of a vacuum tube
The moon is super awesome!
this is one of my favorite videos I have watched
i like knowing how computer and AI
Amazing episode this week! I love learning with science live!
Technology has changed so much over time!
This live was very interesting!
It’s crazy how different they’ve become!
i love these videos!
How have theybeen able to shrink computers and phones so much but still maintain more and more power
lots of history here about computers my favorite subject
It’s amazing how far technology has come and how fast!
I loved learning about the computers! I look forward to the next video
The logic circuits are cool!
we have come a long way from floppy discs!
It’s so cool how far computers have come! I love science live I always learn something new!
Learning about all the old inventions is so cool!
I love Dr Roger
Acellus is the best program for homeschool!
yall talked about the moon mission a little do yall think the moon landing was fake?
I am really enjoying Rogers grandsons segment and it makes the science much easier to understand!
February 4, 2026
what are intergated circuits, and how did they shrink computers?
The is awesome!!
i love this video space is so intresting to me!
God bless you man, I love this program
Should make all science lives R51 focused!
I’m interested in computer technology
That’s so cool!
Wild that computers used to be so large and now they are so small.
Thanks for the science live!
Amazing video⭐️!
I ♥️Acellus
So cool how pixels work, I love technology!
Such a cool science live!
I love science live so much I learn amazing things!
Its crazy that charging a phone is chemical energy ive never thought about that until today
I loved learning about the moon mission!
No way I could function if computers were still big and slow.
I think I would go crazy if computers were that big and slow still! Thank goodness we have progressed.
I do love these videos!
Learning something new everyday
The photographer joke was a good one! Question: If one wire in core rope memory was threaded through the wrong core, would that permanently change the program’s instructions and cause the computer to give incorrect outputs?
This was such an interesting episode! Thank you!
WOW! I can’t believe much energy AI uses!
This world is evolving amazingly.
Always so interesting and always informational!
so interesting and always so informational !
Its so cool how we can see the history of computers and I love the little skit at the end
This is my first video that I have watched. It is very interesting to learn about Vacuum Tube Computing
It’s crazy how far computers have come.
AI uses such a large amount of energy, I’ve actually looked into this a lot, thank you for mentioning it.
Hello from Missouri!!
I’m glad you brought to people’s attention how much energy AI technology uses! Its very beneficial but has a high cost, makes me wonder how this will affect us in the future.
So many interesting topics in this live! I always love learning about the history of technology that we now use daily.
Hearing about the Billings Computer made the history feel real instead of abstract. It’s cool learning from someone who actually worked with early systems.
I love learning about science!
It is crazy how they use water in Data centers.
i thought it would be alot easier to go to the moon
I love listening to music on the radio; so it was interesting to learn how they work.
so cool, i love learning about the moon!!!!
Thank you for your lesson it is amazing how you put everything together!
I really love the proteges
AI is extremely powerful, which can be helpful, but also a bit scary.
AI is so crazy and it takes so much energy
Women in science is where its at!
It’s so crazy that vacuum tubes started it all
I love learning about how things work
hey guys just wannted to say this science live is amazing
This video is great! Thanks Acellus!
this is so fun to watch
We love science
This was truly an interesting science live!
This video was interesting because it showed how computers went from huge machines to the small devices we use today, and I liked learning about early technology and floppy disks.
i love this science live episode.
Thank you for the amazing video!
I like the invention 😁
Wow these are great for learning.
Wow I can’t believe that stack of papers was code!
3 FUN FACTS I LEARNED IN TODAYS SCIENCE LIVE:
1.It took them 5 trys just to land on the moon
2.R-51 is based off of area- 51
3.the people who were trying to land on the moon they wrote the script by hand
Those are the 3 things I learned in todays science live!
amazing just amazing 🤩
yeah really is!!!
Its crazy how much we have come from those early computers and how much energy AI uses now.
If core rope memory was made by weaving wires through little magnetic rings, how did the computer know which wires meant 1 and which meant 0?
It seems that the AI computers are massive just like others, does this mean those are eventually going to be shrinked down?
Thank you for these informative programs
Love science live!
I think it’s so cool that charging a phone is chemical energy. As well as how much energy AI uses.
Just knowed the information of the computer tubes . Its was good it me.
I loved learning about the moon mission! Can we have a whole session on it??
OMG I loved this video, learning about space and science is always so much fun for me.
Science Live is always fun
Wow crazy how it started and how its become!
cool look at early computing! Vacuum tubes started it all, and hearing DrB’s firsthand stories about shaping modern tech is really Interesting!