Janet Raloff

Editor, Digital, Science News Explores

Editor Janet Raloff has been a part of the Science News Media Group for more than four decades. 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. Her writing has won awards from the National Association of Science Writers, International Free Press Association and the Institute of Food Technologists. Over the years, Janet has been an occasional commentator on NPR's "Living on Earth" and her work has appeared in several dozen publications. She is also a founding board member of the Society of Environmental Journalists. 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. Eventually, she expanded the magazine's depth, breadth and publication cycle. In 2013 it became her full-time job (although she still writes the occasional story for Science News). 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). She interned with the Office of Cancer Communications (NIH), Argonne National Laboratory, the Atomic Energy Commission (now Energy Department), the Oak Ridger in Tennessee and the Rock Hill Evening Herald in South Carolina.

All Stories by Janet Raloff

  1. Animals

    In 2024, bird flu posed big risks ­— and to far more than birds

    Cows, elephant seals and polar bears are among unexpected bird flu casualties. Learn about potential risks to them, to people and to our food supplies.

  2. Animals

    Can furry pets get H5N1 bird flu and spread it to us?

    The 2024 pandemic-style bird flu circulating in birds has shown up in cats and other pet species.

  3. Physics

    Explainer: Radiation and radioactive decay

    Like clockwork, radioactive forms of some elements shed parts of themselves as they attempt to become nonradioactive.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Explainer: What is mpox (formerly monkeypox)?

    Once rare, the viral disease monkeypox exploded onto the global scene for the first time in 2022.

  5. Chemistry

    Simple process destroys toxic and widespread ‘forever’ pollutants

    Ultraviolet light, sulfite and iodide break down these PFAS molecules faster and more thoroughly than other methods.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Explainer: What is sickle cell disease?

    Gene mutations can alter an individual’s hemoglobin in ways that curl their blood cells. This can cause painful sickle cell disease.

  7. Microbes

    Explainer: Virus variants and strains

    When viruses become more infectious or better able to survive the body’s immune system, they become a type of variant known as a strain.

  8. Health & Medicine

    COVID-19 risk linked to vaping, but addicted kids find it hard to stop

    Coronavirus risk offers a good reason to quit smoking e-cigarettes, except that’s really hard. And lots of kids were trying even before the pandemic hit.

  9. Science & Society

    These free programs can help teens seeking to quit vaping

    Most kids don’t know where to find help to stop using e-cigarettes. But new teen-friendly programs are emerging.

  10. Tech

    Here’s the summer science you might have missed

    From sizzling Siberia and ‘smart’ toilets, to new uses for astronaut pee, more than COVID-19 made news this summer.

  11. Tech

    From buses to low-cost internet: Creative paths to online access

    From loaner computers and ‘shared’ or reduced-cost internet, U.S. schools and companies are bringing the internet to social-distancing students.

  12. Science & Society

    Introducing the Transparency Project

    A new effort from Science News for Students aims to help readers better understand our journalism.