Janet Raloff

Janet Raloff

Editor, Digital, Science News Explores

Editor Janet Raloff has been a part of the Science News Media Group since 1977. While a staff writer at Science News, she covered the environment, toxicology, energy, science policy, agriculture and nutrition. She was among the first to give national visibility to such issues as electromagnetic pulse weaponry and hormone-mimicking pollutants, and was the first anywhere to report on the widespread tainting of streams and groundwater sources with pharmaceuticals. A founding board member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, her writing has won awards from groups including the National Association of Science Writers. In July 2007, while still writing for Science News, Janet took over Science News Explores (then known as Science News for Kids) as a part-time responsibility. Over the next six years, she expanded the magazine's depth, breadth and publication cycle. Since 2013, she also oversaw an expansion of its staffing from three part-timers to a full-time staff of four and a freelance staff of some 35 other writers and editors. Before joining Science News, Janet was managing editor of Energy Research Reports (outside Boston), a staff writer at Chemistry (an American Chemical Society magazine) and a writer/editor for Chicago's Adler Planetarium. Initially an astronomy major, she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (with an elective major in physics).

All Stories by Janet Raloff

  1. Humans

    Burying potential conflicts of interest

    A new study reports evidence that few meta-analyses of human drug trials identify who funded the those trials, even though such information could be useful in identifying potential conflicts of interest

  2. Physics

    Soot hastens snowmelt on Tibetan Plateau

    Black carbon pollution is a more potent driver of melting in the region than increases in carbon dioxide, a new computer simulation suggests.

  3. Earth

    Low sperm counts linked to fetal effects

    Low male fertility may partly stem from chemical exposures in utero, an anatomical study suggests.

  4. Earth

    PCBs may impair fertility

    A study of women undergoing in vitro fertilization finds reduced embryo implantation among women with higher levels of one type of the banned chemicals.

  5. Microbes

    Gulf floor fouled by bacterial oil feast

    Observations may explain the widespread mortality of sediment-dwelling animals.

  6. Life

    Packing away the poison

    A genetic adaptation in a Hudson River fish species allows it to simply store toxic pollutants in its fat.

  7. Humans

    2012 budget offers pain and gain for R&D

    In a year of federal belt-tightening, the administration prioritizes basic research, education, clean energy and environmental science.

  8. Brain Boosters

    Some nutritional supplements provide real food for thought.

  9. Humans

    Early cow’s milk consumption may cut breast-cancer risk

    Research studies paint a muddy picture of milk’s malignant threat. Some have linked consumption of cow’s milk with a heightened breast-cancer risk. Others have suggested milk drinking might be protective. A new animal study suggests those data may not be quite as contradictory as they at first seemed.

  10. Humans

    In tough economy, PhD appears to help

    U.S. residents holding PhD’s in science, health and engineering were considerably more likely to be employed during late 2008 (the most recent period for which data are available) than were Americans generally, according to a just-released National Science Foundation report.

  11. Humans

    When meal times no longer focus on food

    There’s little doubt that humanity has been tipping the scales at increasingly higher weights and rates. A study now lends support to the idea that meal-time distractions can mask the cues that we really have eaten quite enough. Moreover, it finds, the caloric fallout of not paying attention to what we’re eating doesn’t necessarily end when a meal is over.

  12. Humans

    Amoebas in drinking water: a double threat

    Analysis reveals widespread, hidden contamination by the sometimes lethal parasites.