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. Health & Medicine

    Cancer and Soft Drinks? Oops, Never Mind

    When it comes to cancer, soft drinks are not the villains implied by recent news accounts.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Musical therapy for sounder sleeping

    Regularly playing a droning wind instrument native to Australia significantly reduced snoring and sleep problems, Swiss researchers found.

  3. Humans

    Fattening fears

    Parents' concerns over neighborhood safety may cause them to keep their children indoors and thereby increase the possibility that the youngsters will become overweight.

  4. Ecosystems

    Squirt Alert

    A sea animal of unknown origins and lacking any known predator has begun commandeering ecosystems in cool coastal waters throughout the world.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Breathing Easier with Vitamin D

    Making sure that our bodies have ample vitamin D slows or limits a number of degenerative changes, including diminished lung function.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Academic Cost of Food Insecurity

    Grade school children who come from households where food supplies are not always adequate exhibit more behavioral problems and poorer reading and math skills than do kids who have ample access to nutritious food.

  7. Urban fish show perturbed spawning cycle

    Sediment-dwelling fish off Seattle's waterfront exhibit spawning abnormalities that may compromise their ability to reproduce successfully.

  8. Earth

    Is Teddy a pollution magnet?

    Stuffed toys can accumulate high concentrations of potentially toxic air pollutants.

  9. Ecosystems

    Feminized cod on the high seas

    Male cod in the open ocean are producing an egg-yolk protein ordinarily made only by females, signaling their potential exposure to estrogen-mimicking pollutants.

  10. Earth

    Elevated pesticide threatens amphibians

    The survival of certain mountain-dwelling amphibians may be threatened by toxic pesticides that are blown uphill from distant agricultural lands in California's Central Valley.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Fruits and Veggies Limit Inflammatory Protein (with recipe)

    Diets rich in fruits and vegetables reduce signs of chronic inflammation, which has been linked to heart disease and other serious health problems.

  12. Agriculture

    Organic Doesn’t Mean Free of Pesticides

    Even organic produce, especially root crops, can carry trace residues of long-banned pesticides.