Author James Lloyd

James Lloyd

Staff writer, BBC Science Focus

James Lloyd is staff writer at BBC Science Focus magazine. He especially enjoys writing about wellbeing and psychology.

Recent articles by James Lloyd

How fast would Father Christmas have to fly to visit every child in the world?

It's no small feat to travel 160,000,000km, to visit 200 million children, in 800 million homes, in only 34 hours... Luckily Santa has magic on his side.
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5 mental health apps to help you through the coronavirus crisis

Mental health apps can calm the mind and keep track of wellbeing - here are five of our favourites, all available on iOS and Android.
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Where is the rainiest place on Earth?

Asked by: Bertie West
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First sabre-toothed cat genome reveals a lethal long-distance hunter

Its body was adapted for endurance running.
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No, an asteroid probably won’t smash into Earth the day before the US elections, and here’s why

What are the chances that we'll be struck by a space rock?
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Megalodon shark was an absolute unit, scientists confirm

The predator was unusually big for its time.
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Neanderthals lost their Y chromosome to modern humans

The modern humans won in the battle of the sex chromosomes.
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Should we infect people with COVID-19 for vaccine research?

A vaccine may be available sooner if volunteers are deliberately infected. But is it ethical?
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'Third thumb' human augmentation rewires the brain

Scientists discover what happens to our neural circuitry when we learn to use robotic upgrades.
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The world’s biggest fish are female

Female whale sharks rule the oceans, reaching average lengths of 14 metres.
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COVID-19 'highly likely' to become seasonal disease

"The public will need to learn to live with it," experts warn.
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Andromeda galaxy has a humongous halo of gas

Andromeda's halo extends approximately halfway to the Milky Way.
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Fossilised dinosaur skull reveals adorable appearance of baby sauropods

The skull reveals surprising differences to adult sauropods.
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Ancient reptile ‘well-preserved’ in stomach of slightly larger reptile

A five-metre-long ichthyosaur ate a four-metre-long thalattosaur around 240 million years ago.
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Extinct woolly rhinos were a victim of climate change, not overhunting

The woolly rhino went extinct around 14,000 to 15,000 years ago.
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99-million-year-old fight between ‘hell ant’ and its prey preserved in amber

Researchers say the only way prey could be captured in this position is for the ant's mouthparts to move in a direction "unlike that of all living ants".
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Can herd immunity protect us from COVID-19?

Herd immunity has been touted as a way to slow the virus’s transmission. But what is it, and at what point would we feel its effects?
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Planet Nine could be a grapefruit-sized black hole, say astrophysicists

We can prove it by looking for the black hole's 'accretion flares', the astrophysicists say.
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Is the coronavirus airborne?

There’s growing evidence that the virus can spread via tiny droplets that drift in the air. Should we be worried?
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Meet the ‘tiny bug slayer’, a coffee-cup-sized relative of the dinosaurs

Kongonaphon kely lived around 237 million years ago.
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Naked gas giant offers first ever glimpse of a planetary core

The exposed planetary core is named TOI-849b.
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13,000-year-old miniature bird sculpture 'oldest work of art' to be found in China

The sculpture is thought to represent a ‘passerine’ – a diverse group of birds that includes the sparrows, finches and thrushes.
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Revealed: the last supper of an armoured dinosaur

Borealopelta markmitchelli's incredibly well-preserved stomach contained mostly fern leaves.
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Mysterious Martian landforms made by mud, not lava

Mars's freezing temperatures led to unusual shapes that would never form on Earth.
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