A dead body is seen on the ground after violence erupted in the Independence Square in Kiev February 20, 2014. Ukrainian protesters seized back Kiev's Independence Square in fresh clashes with riot police on Thursday that left several injured and possibly two demonstrators dead. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

An old woman smokes a cigar at Old Havana's Plaza de la Catedral on February 07, 2006 in Havana, Cuba. (Photo by Marco Prosch/Getty Images)

Andrea Petkovic of Germany in action against Sara Errani of Italy during day one of the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament at the Caja Magica on May 3, 2014 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

People try to get a roast chicken at the first Costco outlet in China, on the stores opening day in Shanghai on August 27, 2019. China has proved a brutal battleground for overseas food retailers in recent years, with many failing to understand consumer habits and tastes as well as local competitors building a stronger presence. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

Members of the “Exit Point” amateur rope-jumping group stage a performance as they jump from a 44-metre high (144-ft) waterpipe bridge in the Siberian Taiga area outside Krasnoyarsk, November 3, 2013. Fans of rope-jumping, a kind of extreme sport involving a jump from a high point using an advanced leverage system combining mountaineering and rope safety equipment, marked the end of the group's jumping season and recent Halloween festivities. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A resident jumps as he watches strong waves crash into shore as an effect of Typhoon Hagupit in Legazpi, Albay province, eastern Philippines on Sunday, December 7, 2014. Typhoon Hagupit knocked out power in entire coastal provinces, mowed down trees and sent more than 650,000 people into shelters before it weakened Sunday, sparing the central Philippines a repetition of unprecedented devastation by last year's storm. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

An Indian cyclist pedals with a child during heavy rain in Mumbai, Maharashtra state, India, Friday, July 24, 2015. Several parts of the city witnessed heavy rain Friday. The monsoon rains which usually hit India from June to September are crucial for farmers whose crops feed hundreds of millions of people. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)