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. Earth

    Do your bit to fight toxic pool pollution

    New data suggest that showering before a swim in the community pool could help limit the formation of toxic chemicals in the water.

  2. Humans

    Web site debuts on junior high science

    A new Web site reviews the accuracy of commonly used middle school physical science books and offers tips and assistance for teachers working from those texts.

  3. Earth

    Beefy Losses

    Cattle ranchers are facing some puzzling–and, at times, economically devastating–problems with pregnant cows and calves. At some facilities, high numbers of fetuses are aborting for no apparent reason. Other farmers successfully raise what look to be normal young cattle, only to learn when the animals are butchered that their carcasses appear old and, therefore, less […]

  4. Earth

    Hormones: Here’s the Beef

    Runoff of the hormones excreted by steroid-treated livestock could subtly harm aquatic life.

  5. Earth

    Fire Retardant Catfish?

    It may sound like a barbecue chefs dream: fish that wont catch fire and char when their fat spatters onto overly hot charcoal. But the facts are less appealing. Although many U.S. fish contain fire retardants, they wont protect your grilled fare from burning. In fact, these compounds, which go by the name of polybrominated […]

  6. Health & Medicine

    Surprise! Fat proves a taste sensation

    The share of consumed fat that travels into a person's bloodstream depends on whether the person tasted fat to begin with.

  7. Earth

    Dried-up California lake gets muddy facial

    A new dust-abatement program is transforming the nation's biggest source of respirable dust into a sea of nonpolluting mud.

  8. Earth

    Tough Choices

    Federal programs to preserve water in streams during droughts have prompted lawsuits and new pressures on endangered species and the law that protects them.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Decaf May Not Always Be Best

    Each morning, across America, women rev up their engines by downing a cup of caffeine-rich coffee. A few buck the trend, preparing instead a cup of tea. And some of the more health conscious choose a decaf brew. But for the vast majority, no morning beverage offers the appeal of a strong cup of regular […]

  10. Earth

    EPA switchback on arsenic

    On Oct. 31, the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its March decision to rescind a proposed tougher limit on arsenic in drinking water and is now planning to implement the tougher limit of 10 parts per billion in 2006.

  11. Earth

    Cancer risk linked to night shifts

    Women who work the graveyard shift increase their chance of developing breast cancer, perhaps because of chronic suppression of melatonin.

  12. Earth

    Bottled Water for All?

    U.S. households are water hogs. On average, each man, woman, and child uses an average of 100 gallons of tap water per day. What faucet did this water come from? In some Wisconsin homes, that could be an important question if a proposed change to the plumbing code goes into effect. PhotoDisc In fact, the […]