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Granular materials behave in unexpected ways when gravity is reduced -- but do we understand why? In this presentation, I will discuss how gravity shapes the behavior of granular matter across scales, from industrial powders on Earth to lunar and asteroid regolith. Through low-gravity experiments conducted on multiple platforms, we will unravel how cohesion emerges as a dominant force when gravity weakens, opening new perspectives for both fundamental physics and space exploration.

Affiliations:
Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
CNRS, Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse (IMFT), Toulouse, France

Short bio:
Olfa D’Angelo is an expert in the physics of granular materials in reduced gravity, working at the interface of soft matter physics and space exploration. She completed her PhD at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and will join the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse (IMFT) in 2027 to establish a research group on Soft Matter in Space.