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

In 2023 alone, over 10,000 research papers were withdrawn, setting a new global record. Journals subject papers to stringent review processes facilitated by expert peer reviewers, but many procedural and factual errors still manage to slip past inattentive editors, threatening to damage the reputation of legitimate scientific research.

Science has an integrity problem

by Mihir Kotbagi, Assistant STEM Editor April 8, 2024

Science, long held as the epitome of truth and objectivity, is facing an integrity crisis, with a growing number of retractions calling into question the reliability of published research and shaking...

Attendees of the research club take part in a mock-science fair in preparation for Synopsys on March 7. Synopsys is the Santa Clara County regional research championship.

Research Club holds Synopsys Championship preparation meeting

by Vivek Moorjani, HoH Profiler March 18, 2024

Research Club held a mock science fair on March 7 in upper school physics and science research teacher Chris Spenner’s room in preparation for the Synopsys Science and Technology Championship. Around...

John Near and Mitra Family Scholars stand in front of Chen Lin Mentors for a photo after the Scholar Grant Reception on April 25. During the event, five Near and four Mitra scholars shared their research experiences over the past year, with topics ranging from racial injustice in Manilatown to Peru’s “gastronomic revolution.”

Near Mitra reception celebrates nine scholars, gathers schoolwide support

by Shareen Chahal and Alena Suleiman May 8, 2023

John Near and Mitra Family Scholars and Chen Lin Mentors celebrated their projects at the Scholar Grant Reception in Nichols Hall on April 25 from 4:15 to 6 p.m.  Current seniors in the program recently...

Fiona Yan (11) practices presenting her research project at the mock science fair, which was organized by the Research Club on March 6. Fairs were held virtually from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic but have since switched back to in-person.

2023 Synopsys Championship returns to in-person science fair

by Edward Huang, Co-STEM Editor March 13, 2023

Upper school students attended the 2023 Synopsys Science and Technology Championship hosted by the Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Association (SCVSEFA) at the San Jose Convention Center...

This is the third 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. In this episode, Aquila reporters Selina Xu and Olivia Xu meet with Anika Mantripragada (11) to discuss her work in medical illustration.

Research Revelations Episode 3: The art of medical illustration with Anika Mantripragada

by Olivia Xu and Selina Xu March 6, 2023

This is the third 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....

An illustration representing the process of nuclear fusion. In December, researchers completed the first nuclear fusion experiment yielding an energy surplus.

Nuclear fusion: Powering a brighter future

by Victor Gong and Andrew Liang March 2, 2023

It begins with a single pulse of light. The pulse first separates into 192 separate beams, amplified and adjusted so their power distribution is even while traveling a distance of one and a half kilometers....

This illustration represents the podcast Research Revelations, which spotlights student researchers with staff members. In this episode, reporters Selina Xu and Lindsey Tuckey converse with Nidhya Shivakumar (12) about her project.

Research Revelations Episode 2: Assessing damage from climate change with Nidhya Shivakumar

by Selina Xu and Lindsey Tuckey November 1, 2022

This is the second 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....

An illustration of a rat. Stanford University researchers successfully transplanted human brain cells into baby rats in a recent study published Oct. 12.

Researchers transplant human neurons into rats

by Young Min and Claire Zhao October 26, 2022

Stanford University scientists transplanted human brain cells into baby rats in order to study developmental disorders like autism and schizophrenia. The study, published on Oct. 12 in Nature, adds to...

Students listen as Mrs. Chetty walks through the Synopsys guidelines. The informational meeting for the Synopsys fair and Regeneron Science Talent Search research competitions took place on Friday in the Nichols Auditorium.

Upper school science department holds annual Synopsys and Regeneron informational meeting

by Sidak Sanghari and Vika Gautham September 6, 2022

Upper school science department head Anita Chetty and research teacher Chris Spenner held the Synopsys and Regeneron informational meeting for students in the Nichols Auditorium on Friday at 3:10 p.m. The...

This illustration represents the podcast Research Revelations, which spotlights student researchers with staff members.

Research Revelations Episode 1: Microplastics in fish with Aeliya Grover

by Ella Yee and Selina Xu May 2, 2022

This is the first 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....

WiSTEM club member Michelle Jin (11) pours water into a cup of magic sand. WiSTEM officers and members organized the Research Symposium under the guidance of club adviser and upper school science department chair Anita Chetty.

Student researchers, keynote speakers present at WiSTEM Club’s annual Research Symposium

by Sabrina Zhu, STEM Editor April 25, 2022

The upper school’s Women in STEM (WiSTEM) club hosted the 16th annual Research Symposium, themed "STEM Will Save Us," in-person, on April 16 for the first time in two years. At Symposium, over 50...

Assistant professor Anand Natarajan (09) teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys (MIT) Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department. He first discovered his love for science as a child and explored his passion at the high school level with clubs and advanced classes.

Blooming from the STEM: Anand Natarajan (‘09) dives into quantum computing

by Olivia Xu and Brandon Zau March 28, 2022

harkeraquila · Winged Post Audible: Blooming from the STEM: Anand Natarajan (‘09) Imagine that you and I are on the opposite sides of the galaxy, and you perform an operation on yourself. Now, imagine...

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