The typical day of an atypical scientist

Most people have heard of sodium, potassium and chlorine. Sodium is a metal well known in salt and violently reacts in water. Potassium is also a metal and is explosive in water, and chlorine is recognised as a pool cleaner, it is a gas at room temperature and highly toxic.

What people don't know is that as elements they are macronutrients for plant and animal cells. In the form of ions, they are required for proper cell function. How do these ions get into the cells? Doctor Mary Beilby, biophysicist and senior lecturer > at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) studies exactly this- electrophysiology. More precisely, Dr Beilby investigates how cells respond to varying concentrations of extracellular salt.