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

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...

Psych club officer Varun Thvar (11) leads a virtual speaker session featuring Dr. Matcheri Keshavan, a neuroscientist who works at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Keshavan educated Psych Club members on the different parts of the brain.

STEM Spotlight: Psychology Club

by Ashley Mo, Reporter February 3, 2024

Psychology Club, led by president Daphne Avkarogullari (12), covers topics such as cognitive, social and clinical psychology. The club aims to introduce Harker students to the world of psychology through...

At its core, AMR is based on the natural selection and evolution of microorganisms. When exposed to an antibiotic, susceptible bacteria are eliminated, leaving behind a population of microorganisms with genes that are resistant to the antibiotic.

Beyond the microscopic world: antimicrobial resistance threatens global health

by Ashley Mo, Assistant STEM Editor January 23, 2024

The year is 1928. While inspecting a contaminated petri dish of Staphylococcus bacteria, British scientist Alexander Fleming makes a crucial observation: a growth of mold belonging to the Penicillium genus....

As the 2023 holiday season concludes and families remove the festive twinkling lights from the roof and the delicate ornaments from the tree, now is a better time than ever to consider future environmental footprints.

Global Reset: Preserve holiday magic

by Eva Cheng, Asst. Sports Editor January 17, 2024

In the midst of the winter season, the age-old debate between real and artificial Christmas trees surfaces yet again: the nostalgic scent of pine and rustic charm of a real tree versus the glossy, truly...

STEM Scene: Jan. 16

STEM Scene: Jan. 16

by Victor Gong and Mihir Kotbagi January 16, 2024

Marc Leglise (’03) snaps a selfie from the air using a camera-helmet system. His passion for skydiving connects him to his work at Columbia Sportswear, where as a senior manager of e-commerce technology, he helps people secure the gear he uses in the air.

Blooming from the STEM: Diving into e-commerce

by Katerina Matta, Co-Sports Editor January 14, 2024

An email pops into your inbox, advertising a shiny new discount on a brand’s latest product. In just a few clicks, your purchase travels from the catalog to your cart to a warehouse, arriving at your...

This is the fourth installment of Research Revelations: Conversations with Our Student Researchers. Aquila reporters Victor Gong and Claire Zhao meet with Young Min (11) to discuss her work in cell-penetrating peptides.

Research Revelations Episode 4: Chemotherapy and cell-penetrating peptides with Young Min

by Victor Gong and Claire Zhao December 12, 2023

This is the fourth installment of Research Revelations: Conversations with Our Student Researchers, a podcast where Aquila staff members talk to student researchers about their projects and research goals....

UCSC Professor Yi Zhang talks about how AI lanaguage models comprehend human language. Research club held the speaker event last Friday for those interested in computer science and artificial intelligence.

UCSC professor explores AI language models at Research Club speaker event

by Victor Gong and Jessica Wang December 7, 2023

University of California, Santa Cruz Professor Yi Zhang presented her award-winning research in Natural Language Processing, Multimodality and Information Retrieval in Chris Spenner's Room last Friday...

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