Magnus Carlsen may not ring a familiar tone, but I think he deserves some recognition. Magnus Carlsen is the current best chess player in the world. He won the award for best chess player in 2013 and has defended the title 4 times, so far. He even managed to have the highest rating ever in chess history. (Ratings are a system used to determine one’s worth.) You might think that this is the end, but...

How can schools prepare their students for state testing? State testing is designed to assess a student's ability to think and solve problems. The two-hour test is computer-based and uses many different types of questions to determine whether students have learned what they were expected to. It is important because it helps ensure all public school students receive a quality education, no matter what...

Minions, little yellow pill shaped creatures who communicate in their own gibberish language. Shockingly, the cute yellow creatures who eat bananas were originally going to be designed as robots! The illustrator Eric Gullion thought of them as little short human workers but eventually came up with Minions who have existed since the beginning of time, evolving from yellow single-celled organisms into...

The Oscars 94th Academy Awards was full of events, but one specific incident stood out. People have been talking about the wild event that happened at the Oscars. Gossip has been spread about the fact that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. People have been calling this outrageous disturbance “The slap heard around the world.” Let us return to what the Oscars are about:movies. There were many winners...

Imagine a living robot made by machines. Then imagine this robot walking and swimming and working with other biobots, while self-healing injuries and duplicating themselves. Well, this imaginary machine is actually real, and it is living just 2,978.5 miles away in Medford, Massachusetts. The new biohybrid robot, dubbed “Xenobot,” was made by Doug Blackiston, a biologist at Tufts University in...

At the brink of extinction, two northern white rhinos, who are both females, are being studied by scientists who want to create advanced assisted reproduction techniques. These scientists are extracting skin cells from rhinos to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that can eventually develop into immature egg cells, or oocytes. A Japanese stem cell researcher at Kyushu university, Hayashi,...

FSD Fest is an event to showcase work from all of the Fullerton District schools and acknowledge the hard work of students. This year though, the festival created a new event called “Civic Endeavors: The Games,” that spiked many students' interest. Previously, the students had to create an invention that would be judged and winners would be picked. This year, instead of creating a final product,...

In 2003, the Avian Flu struck Asian countries, causing the mass slaughter of millions of fowl that were infected with the flu before falling into the hands and mouths of the community. Egg, chicken, and turkey prices skyrocketed in stores as hundreds of people, afflicted from eating the tainted meat, were weakened with flu-like symptoms as well as other, sometimes deadly, ailments. Although the bird...

On March 10, 2022 a drone was spotted flying, and it had been estimated to have flown over 350 miles and passed the Ukraine border before crashing in Croatia. People investigating the scene found explosive devices attached to the drone. At first Ukraine soldiers who had seen it could not determine if it was part of Ukraine or Russia. In the article it says “Another drone recently entered the airspace...

The sun is one of the oldest stars known to date. The Milky Way galaxy itself is about 12 billion years old, meaning this was one of the very first stars to be born in it, maybe even as the galaxy itself was forming. Each planet in our solar system revolves on an axis around the sun. The sun is a very important object in our solar system. Not only does the sun help the Earth stay warm, but it also...

How would you act if you discover that you have superpowers and need to learn how to control them while finding your way around the world? That’s what Netflix's superhero series Raising Dion story is about. It's based on the comic book known as Raising Dion written by Dennis Liu. The show starts of showing Dion levitating himself unconsciously in bed when he was sick. It later develops into a training...

On April 8th, 2022 refugees attempted to escape from the war but were attacked. On this day the Kramatorsk Train Station, used to evacuate civilians, was hit by a Russian Rocket. Predictably, Russia denied the accusation. The war between Russia and Ukraine still continues and everyday life becomes harder for Ukrainian civilians. April 8th, at about 10:30Am the explosions were heard. People counted...

On February 24th, 2022, the lives of Ukrainians were changed forever because on this day, Russia chose to invade Ukraine. Ukraine has been facing many risks with this war, but recently they faced a bigger risk. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant near Enerhodar, which is in the country's southeast, was attacked by Russian forces. Ukraine currently has 15 working nuclear reactors, and these reactors...

Legend has it there is an evil spirit trapped in the Sessho-seki stone. This stone is located in Nikko National Park which is about 100 miles north of Tokyo, named the Nine-Tailed Fox. But recently, the famous stone — believed to kill anyone who comes in contact with it has split. Many who believe in mythology are afraid that the Nine-Tailed Fox, also known as the Gumiho, has been released. The...

Through the course of the NBA, there have been many changes in how players play the game. Back in the mid 1900s, most NBA players avoided shooting the ball from far away from the basket and would always pass it around till someone was open. Now, if you were to watch an NBA game or any basketball game for that matter, you would most likely see players dribbling down the court and shooting from deep....

The mask mandate is one of the many precautions Americans have been required to follow due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, what was once a necessary precaution to prevent people from contracting the virus is now deemed by many as a burden. Thus, the mask mandate being lifted in California schools should have been a remarkable step in the right direction. However, almost everyone at Parks Jr. High...

The topic of Russia invading Ukraine has been a popular one for a while now, however, many of the things that came up were about what was happening in Ukraine. Though many people feel sympathy towards the Ukrainians, there have not been many public protests in the U.S., against the war.  The Ukrainian American community rallied on the steps of the state Capitol on Thursday, February 24, 2022. The...

Recently, an extremely controversial topic has flooded all forms of social media. This is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More specifically, youth of all ages have shown a sudden interest in what the world is doing in response to the current conflicts. When many learn of the fact that powerful countries such as the United States are not sending troops to support Ukraine, they are confused and angered....

A “tyrant lizard king” ruled western North America more than sixty-six million years ago. But how large was this monarch’s royal family? Could what we call a T. rex today, possibly be composed of multiple species? For more than two decades, the Field Museum in Chicago has displayed a T. rex nicknamed “Sue”, but now a new study argues that Sue is not actually a Tyrannosaurus skeleton but a...

Wandavison premiered January 15th, 2020 on Disneyplus. The show follows the life of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). While Wanda and Vision have a busy life, (especially because they just became newlyweds in the first episode) they manage to keep a good social status with their neighbors Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). In the first episode,...

“Congratulations to these innovative and exceptional schools for creating systems that support the needs of all students...” - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. Parks earned the title “School to Watch”, thanks to the dedication of the staff and students. The staff and students of Parks Jr. High worked extremely hard, and you will be pleased to know that the efforts...

Ever since the first UFO sighting in 1947, the number of people claiming to have witnessed these flying saucers have grown. With the increasing attention to UFOs, pictures, videos, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories started to appear, and people began to consider the existence of UFOs. Are these unidentified flying objects evidence of intelligent life outside of earth, or are they simply hallucinations...

Let’s set the scene. You are walking to school one day when your friend sneaks up behind you. “Hey!” they say, almost shouting with giddy. You look at them in confusion at their erratic greeting and tentatively say hello back. “Do you know what day it is?” You pause for a second, even more baffled by the arbitrarily tossed out question, and reply, drawing the word out. “No?” You think...

In the time of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United Nations and other countries, not wanting to start a nuclear war with Russia, have started using sanctions against Russia.  Wait! What are sanctions? Well, sanctions are non-military penalties imposed on one country from another. Sanctions are often used to stop countries from acting aggressively or breaking the law. They usually target countries...

Outer Banks is a TV show series that premiered on Netflix April 15, 2020.The second season came out July 30, 2021. It is an action-adventure, mystery, thriller, and a teen drama. The show follows John B (Chase Stokes) and his group of friends JJ, Kiara, and Pope, the “Pogues.” When John B’s father passes away, he and his group of friends are determined to find out what had happened to John B’s...