Jun 26, 2026
A hands-on evening at the Dresdner Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2026
The Sediment Transport stand invited visitors of all ages to observe, question and experiment.
A Night Full of Curiosity and Discoveries
On June 26, 2026, TU Dresden became a lively gathering place for people who wanted to experience research up close. At the “Sediment Transport Group” booth, families, children, and science enthusiasts stepped into the role of researchers. Through four simple yet striking demonstrations, the team brought to life a process that shapes rivers, supports water treatment, places stress on engineering structures, and influences environmental risks: the close interaction between flowing water and the particles it carries.
The booth was designed more as a discussion forum than as an exhibition. Visitors mixed, poured, squeezed, and observed how the water cleared or remained cloudy, while members of the “Sediment Transport” research group linked each observation to a physical mechanism.
Water Is Only Half the Story
Sediment transport is not determined solely by the flow. Surface charge, cohesion, friction, force chains, and elasticity give the particles their own microstructure. Together with the flowing water, these interactions determine whether grains remain in suspension, settle, aggregate, become jammed, or transmit stresses to a boundary.
Durch praktische Vorführungen wurde die Physik auf Teilchenebene zu einem offenen Austausch zwischen Forschern, Kindern und Erwachsenen.
Four experiments, one coherent story
Sedimentation and Flocculation
The sand settled quickly, while fine sediment kept the water cloudy. Adding a flocculant caused small particles to clump into larger aggregates that settled more quickly—a direct connection to water treatment.
Force Chains in a Silo
Chickpeas in a cylinder demonstrated that grains do not fill a container like a liquid. When they come into contact with one another, part of the vertical weight is redirected to the walls—an effect that is significant for silos and infrastructure.
Cornstarch in Water
Maisstärke in Wasser
The mixture flowed when moved gently but stiffened or became blocked when moved quickly. Under high stress, the frictional contacts form a temporary network that absorbs the load like a solid.
Soft hydrogel beads
weiche Hydrogel-Kugeln im Eimer
Deformable, low-friction particles whose arrangement differs significantly from that of sand or chickpeas, illustrating how elasticity and the rules governing each contact influence the behavior of the entire mixture.
Mitglieder der TPH-Gruppe mischen Maisstärke und Wasser
Science Beyond the Lab
The most impressive result was not a single demonstration, but the discussion that followed. Children immediately tried out ideas … Adults drew connections between the observations and muddy rivers, drinking water treatment, and engineering structures. The questions naturally moved from everyday experiences to physics at the particle level. By designing the experiments to be open-ended and hands-on, the team demonstrated how researchers build understanding: carefully observing, altering an interaction, comparing the reaction, and linking small-scale mechanisms to large-scale consequences.
Booth Coordination
Dr. Franco Tapia and Maria Löffler, together with members of the “Sediment Transport” research group at the Chair of Transport Processes in Hydrosystems.
Main Source
Sediment Transport Booth – Monitor Briefing (2026). Photos provided by the Sediment Transport Group (Veronika Saiz, Alexander Metelkin). Event context: TU Dresden’s official event recap for the year 2026 .