If you’re looking for a feelgood story today then we think we have you covered, because the feats of 16-year-old Kiara Nirghin are nothing short of inspirational.

The world’s best and brightest young scientists gathered at Google’s headquarters over in California, and the stand-out science project was that of the Grade 11 pupil at St Martin’s School in Rosettenville, Jozi.

Kiara’s project was on using fruit to combat drought, taking home the grand prize and the R680 000 in scholarship funding that came with it.

TimesLive with the nitty-gritty:

[She] based her project on a natural super-absorbent polymer that allows soil to retain massive amounts of water…

During her research‚ which she worked on for about two months‚ she found that most citrus fruit contained naturally occurring polymers.

Orange peels contain 64% of polysaccharides‚ making them a candidate as a biodegradable polymer.

She experimented with ultraviolet light and heat and added natural oil found in avocado peels to boiled orange peels. After 45 days‚ her experiments showed that the mixture could absorb 76.1% of water‚ supporting her hypothesis that it could increase soil moisture.

Chemical absorbents are not biodegradable and sell at around R28 000 a ton. Kiara’s orange peel and avocado mix could be produced at R848 a ton.

Whether or not that all makes sense to you, the last sentence seems to be the one that really jumps out. If we can find a much cheaper alternative to protect the agricultural sector against crippling implications of drought, who knows what good could come of her hard work.

Take a bow Kiara.

[source:timeslive]