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. Chemistry

    New solution for kitchen germs

    Acidic electrolyzed water appears to kill foodborne germs more effectively than a bath of dilute bleach.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Insulin inaction may hurt even nondiabetics

    Flawed insulin activity may lead to blood changes that foster atherosclerosis, even in people who don't have diabetes.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Another Green That Might Prevent Breast Cancer

    Many studies have indicated that diets high in produce–including broccoli and other veggies–may lower a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. Now, California researchers report data suggesting that drinking green tea does the same thing. Bad news for women who–like me–prefer black tea: The study failed to identify a similar advantage from such brews, much […]

  4. Agriculture

    Spying Genetically Engineered Crops

    Environmental Protection Agency scientists are exploring the use of satellites to monitor genetically engineered crops. At ground level, genetically modified corn plants don’t look any different from conventional ones, but data suggest that satellite sensors may be able to read different spectral signatures from the two types of the crop. USDA Most of these genetically […]

  5. Health & Medicine

    Fighting cancer from the cabbage patch

    Extracts of foods belonging to the cabbage family can block the action of estrogen, a hormone that fuels many cancers.

  6. Earth

    Nonstick but not nontoxic

    A proliferating pollutant shed by nonstick products and surfactants caused neonatal deaths and developmental impairments in tests with rodents.

  7. Earth

    Testing computers’ hazardous potential

    The approved test for evaluating the ability of wastes to leach toxic metals fails to identify lead risks from some electronics equipment.

  8. Earth

    Big worries about little tubes

    The size and chemical makeup of some nanotubes being developed for industrial operations resemble mineral fibers, including asbestos, that pose a serious cancer risk.

  9. Humans

    Postdocs warrant more status and support

    A new study finds a pressing need to improve the pay and status of postdoctoral scholars.

  10. Agriculture

    Local Foods Could Make for Greener Grocers

    There was a time not so long ago when people tended to select the ingredients for their meals either from what was available that week at local markets or from out-of-season home-canned, -smoked, or -pickled goods in the family larder. No longer. Maryland cooks can pick up New Zealand lamb or Icelandic salmon any time […]

  11. Earth

    Air Sickness

    Studies have begun showing subtle but substantial harmful effects in outwardly healthy people who regularly breathe hazy air.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Sweet Treatment for SARS

    Since severe acute respiratory syndrome–or SARS–burst on the scene this past March, physicians have reported more than 8,400 cases worldwide. The flulike lung disease appears to have emerged in mainland China, where officials have acknowledged 7,083 cases so far. In the future, people with the intense flu- and pneumonia-like symptoms of SARS could find relief […]