{
  "id": 1483795,
  "title": "Texas girl makes algae produce 77% more biofuel",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/texas-girl-makes-algae-produce-77-more-biofuel",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-17T12:26:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/fascinated-by-the-word-biomass-a-seventh-grader-in-texas-made-algae-produce-77-more-biofuel-oils-in-just-five-days-with-a-simple-vitamin-and-salt-experiment/articleshow/133296977.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A seventh-grade student in Austin, Texas, Arya Hirsave, has discovered a method to make algae produce 77% more biofuel. The seventh-grader from Canyon Vista Middle School in Austin has been investigating algae as a renewable resource since learning about biomass in class. Her research project, titled \"Micro’fat’ories: Increasing Microalgal Biomass and Lipids for Biofuel Production,\" was a finalist in the 2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.\n\nArya focused on four types of microalgae: two freshwater species and two saltwater algae. She experimented with vitamins B and C as well as plant hormones to encourage growth and lipid production. The vitamins helped algae grow by 6-7%, but Arya found that increasing the salt in the water led to more lipids in the algae, even though the growth slowed.\n\nArya's breakthrough came when she combined the two treatments in a specific sequence. Initially, the algae were exposed to vitamins for three days to promote growth. They were then exposed to a high-salt environment for two days. This five-day treatment increased lipid production by 77%. While this result doesn't imply a commercial algae biofuel process has been developed, it demonstrates how altering an organism's environment can influence its outputs. Arya's curiosity from a middle-school science lesson has led to an experiment with potential implications for renewable energy research.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}