MC Daryl Ilbury (SAASTA) starts off the morning with a quick run-down of the program at Sci-Bono.

Cornelis Van Niekerk heads to the stage to discuss lasers.

Props can be an important part of the talks!

Afterwards, Cornelis gives a quick interview.

Abejide ('Jide') Olu Ade-Ibijola is a PhD student at Wits.

Gugulethu ('Gugu') Mabuza talks about iris recognition

No, she's not sharing her credit cards, but talking about how biometrics can reduce the number of cards carried around.

Gugu answers a few questions from MC Daryl.

And then to a few questions from the (highly entertained) judging panel.

Cameron de Bruyn starts off by talking about the dangers of dagga.

Celeste Johnson loves imaginary numbers.

Kirsty Sanders:

Isobel Kolbe, University of Pretoria.

Isobel and her Higgs Boson (shown larger than actual size).

Isobel and the Heisenberg uncertainty ruler.

Ansunya, University of Pretoria.

Ansunya discusses stellar evolution. The computer is for a sound clip of a supernova explosion. No Power Point allowed at FameLab!

Muhammed decided to enter FameLab the night before, courtesy of his cousin and fellow competitor, Ahmed. But now he's ready to talk about banded-iron formations and the early Earth.

Ahmed Seedat (Wits) is a repeat competitor from FameLab SA 2013, where he made it to the national finals in Grahamstown. Here, he talks about 3D printing of body part replacements.

Judges Sarah Wild (Mail & Guardian science writer) and Elize Venter (National Zoological Gardens).

Judge Gladys Magagula runs spacecraft at SANSA.

Judge Michael Ellis runs the Sci-Bono Discovery Center, a huge and beautiful science museum in the remnants of an old power plant in downtown Johannesburg.

Robert Inglis runs Jive Media Africa, which puts on FameLab in South Africa.

Remo Chipatiso from the British Council, which runs FameLab internationally.

And the video guys!

Check out that iris!

Ansunya does some last-minute prep.

Lunch break! Each contestant gave one talk in the morning, and the semi-finalists came back for another talk in the afternoon.

Celeste's support group.

Sindi is the master of the vuvuzela. Don't go over time: it blows at three minutes!

Malcolm leads the AV crew.

AV guys get recharged.

Waiting for the results...

All ten contestants. This year FameLab SA had seven regional heats, with Gauteng among them.

And the five finalists are headed to Scifest in Grahamstown, SA. Of those, one winner will be chosen to go to the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK.

Thank you judges and organizers! Missing here are Remo and Robert -- off busy fixing something.