The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

High school coders collaborate on the novice problem set during HPCs Harker Programming Invitation in Nichols Atrium on Mar. 9. Groups of up to three students worked together to solve ten questions in two hours in the novice division.

Coders compete in Programming Club’s annual Harker Programming Invitational

by Tiffany Zhu and Emma Gao March 15, 2024

Around 150 middle and high school students from the Bay Area participated in the annual Harker Programming Invitational (HPI), a team-based competition organized by Harker Programming Club (HPC) and held...

Upper school chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine assists Arturo Vilalta (10) with the paper chromatography lab. Students determined which M&M flavors contained yellow #5 using chromatography.

Honors Chemistry students sweeten science with M&M chromatography

by Ashley Mo, Assistant STEM Editor March 8, 2024

Honors Chemistry students conducted a paper chromatography lab using colored dye from M&Ms to determine which flavors contained the synthetic food dye Tartrazine, also known as “Yellow #5,” over...

William Chen 03 lectures to Green Team about sustainable farming on Stanfords O’Donohue Educational Farm. Besides talking about his own experiences, Chen also discussed the harmful effects of pesticides and herbicides, the benefits of eating organic foods, and ways to support sustainable farming.

Green Team speaker highlights methods and mission behind sustainable farming

by Victor Gong and Ashley Mo March 6, 2024

Green Team invited Harker alum William Chen ‘03 to present on sustainable farming on Monday. Chen is the facility and production coordinator at Stanford’s O’Donohue Educational Farm and has previously...

WiSTEM members prepare to start the AI workshop on Feb. 23. Volunteers discussed logistics like screen sharing and changes in the Google Slides before the workshop.

WiSTEM shares STEM knowledge in TechGirlz AI workshop

by Ashley Mo and Mendy Mao March 6, 2024

Women in STEM Club hosted a virtual TechGirlz AI workshop about AI algorithms and applications on Feb. 2 from 4-6 p.m. and on Feb. 23 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. WiSTEM members led the event, and 26 girls...

Studies conducted by white scientists on unknowning minority communities imprinted long-lasting distrust
for medical instituions. Such studies include those conducted on the Havasupai Indians and Black men in the Tuskegee experiment.

Culture of negligence: Flaws in minorities’ healthcare persist

by Hima Thota, Co-Features Editor February 29, 2024

Medicine in the United States stands as an exemplar for medical breakthroughs throughout the global medical community. But underneath the history of the United States’ success in medicine lies the systematic...

Light pollution mutes the sky over Los Angeles. “When you have city artificial lighting in the area, it brightens the night sky, just like the sun brightens the sky and turns it into day,” astronomy teacher Dr. Eric Nelson said.

Global Reset: Where have all the stars gone?

by Jonathan Xue and Ashley Mo February 23, 2024

Far above the Earth we inhabit lies an infinite abyss, scattered with universes undiscovered and galaxies unexplored. Through our night sky, we capture a fleeting glimpse of this world sublime, a window...

Illustration by Emily Tan and Claire Zhao. Design by Victor Gong.

STEM Scene: Feb. 22

by Mihir Kotbagi and Claire Zhao February 22, 2024

Brendon Hayes (11) holds a warm mug. With extreme cold climates in
recent times, warm drinks have become more and more popular ways to warm up.

Stirring the science behind hot beverages

by Victor Gong and Kevin Zhang February 21, 2024

Raindrops roll down the pane of windows, pitter-pattering along the streets and sidewalks. Heavy winds rush through the darkened skies, howling at every turn. Trees lie barren. Animals scurry away to shelter....

The Apple Vision Pro carries hyper-immersive experiences to the world of virtual reality. The headset released to all Apple stores on Feb. 2.

Apple of your eye: Vision Pro surges into the metaverse

by Victor Gong and Mihir Kotbagi February 20, 2024

Apple’s newest virtual reality headset, the Vision Pro, released in all Apple stores on Feb. 2. Priced at $3,499, the headset projects a stylistic digital screen right in front of users, allowing them...

COVID-19 continues to mutate into new variants like the most recent JN.1 strain and remains especially active during the respiratory virus season from fall to winter. Updated vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax that came out in fall 2023 are effective against newer variants, and CDC safety precautions have largely stayed the same since last year.

Keeping up with COVID-19

by Mendy Mao and Jeremy Peng February 9, 2024

As we slog through another respiratory virus season, COVID-19 is no longer the main topic of discussion. Instead, the nation seems to have collectively moved on, despite the dangers the virus still poses....

Synthetic opioids, notably fentanyl, pose nearly double the risk of death compared to prescription opioids such as morphine, codeine and thebaine. The low cost and high potency of fentanyl make it an appealing substance for mixing with heroin and other illegal drugs easily.

Scientists anticipate a fourth wave of opioid crisis

by Disha Gupta, Asst. Opinions Editor February 9, 2024

Imagine pulling out a dull pencil, trekking over to the sharpener and watching the machine distill the lead into a sharp tip. Now, picture delicate crystal specks one-fourth the size of this minuscule...

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