This page collects Vidya Rajan’s science writing in two categories: the popular science column Inner Nature, published monthly in the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers’ Newsletter and The Unionville Times since July 2018, and her peer-reviewed research publications. Articles hosted on this site are marked with ✦.
Peer-Reviewed Research
Journal articles and book chapters: Research Publications →
Inner Nature — Popular Science Column
2026
- August – ✦ Exteroception
- July — ✦ Assorted Internal Body Sensors
- June — ✦ Audioreception
- May — ✦ Vision
- April — ✦ Mechanoreception
- March — ✦ Thermoception
- February — ✦ Chemosensation
- January — Making Sense of the Senses
2025
- December — ✦ Vomiting
- November — Parasitoids
- October — Great Migrations
- September — Organizing Life
- August — ✦ The Mystery of Viruses
- July — ✦ Transparent Animals
- June — ✦ The Poison Book Project
- May — Magnetic Field Sensing
- April — Animal Electricity
- March — ✦ Photosynthetic and Light-Harvesting Animals
- February — ✦ Oaks – Keystone Trees of the Keystone State
- January — ✦ Party Season
2024
- December — ✦ Animals of Japan
- November — Good News in Science
- October — ✦ Musings on Museums
- September — Gene Snatcher
- August — Did Life Originate at Hydrothermal Vents
- July — Forces of Nature
- June — Matter Matters
- May — The Nature of Our Universe
- April — Cooperation vs. Competition
- March — ✦ Time: Reality or Illusion?
- February — Merde!
- January — ✦ Cannibalism: Proscribed or Protein?
2023
- December – Virgin Births
- November — ✦ Quorum Sensing or Stigmergy?
- October — Enduring Aging
- September — The Need for Sleep
- August — Wasps, Ants and Bees
- July — The Nature of Instinct
- June — Sentience
- May — ✦ Rescuing a Rock Honeybee Swarm in Chennai
- April — Shapes of Animal Bodies
- March — Inosculation
- February — ✦ A Chat with ChatGPT about Bioelectricity
- January — ✦ Antibiotic Ambivalence
2022
- December — ✦ The Third Man of Natural Selection
- November — ✦ The Greatest Boles on Earth
- November — ✦ Make Waves for Little Ducklings
- October — ✦ Ancient Pollinators of the Sea
- August — ✦ Natives vs. Non-Natives
- July — ✦ The Medicine/Poison Cabinet
- June — ✦ The Otherworldly Octopus
- May — ✦ Beekeeping in Ukraine
- April — ✦ Fibers for Fabric
- March — Poisonous and Venomous Animals
- February — ✦ To Dye For
- January — Cryptobiosis with the Tardigrades
2021
- December — ✦ Palynology
- November — Bloody Colors
- October — Eggs and Seeds
- September — ✦ Phenology and the Art of Beekeeping
- August — ✦ Vertebrate Mouths
- July – Invertebrate Mouths
- June — Gender and Stereotypes in Nature
- May — ✦ Brood X – The 17-Year Cicada Emergence
- April – Feats of Strength
- March — Mad Honey
- February — ✦ The Ancient Art of Domestication
- January — ✦ Plant Poisons
2020
- December — ✦ Parasitic Control of Host Behavior
- November — Vaccine Formulations
- October — ✦ Pheromones: Subliminal Stirrings
- September – ✦Toxic Secretions: Venoms and Poisons
- August — ✦ Pesticides – Apocalypse Now
- July — Salt of the Earth: Sodium and Potassium
- June — ✦ Fe: An Iron Constitution
- May — ✦ Chocolate: Food or Poison?
- April — ✦ Pandemic
- March — ✦ COVID-19: Pandemic or Paranoia?
- February — ✦ Overwintering – How Not to Freeze to Death
- January — ✦ Oxygen – Trash to Treasure
2019
- December – ✦ Gender: Sex Made Visible
- November – ✦ Sex: The Key to Diversity
- October — Animal Development
- September – The Nervous System: Evolution of Complexity
- August — Locomotion: Moving With Purpose
- July — The Science of Reproduction
- June — Immunity
- May – Circulation
- April — Breath of Life
- March — ✦ Digestion – Food Processing
- February — ✦ Olfaction – Sensing Scents
- January — Gustation – A Taste of Things to Come
2018
- December — ✦ Touchy-Feely: Somatosensation
- November — ✦ Good Vibrations – The Science of Hearing
- October — ✦ Eye See Colors
- September – Retinal: The Eyes Have It
- August – Metamorphosis: Buggy Development
- July – Aposematism – Worn Warning
