High winds blow sand across the highway near the original north shore of Owens Lake, now miles from the nearest pool of water, on May 5, 2007 near Lone Pine, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

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)

Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

A firefighter uses a saw to open a metal gate while fighting a fire in a convenience store and residence during clashes after the funeral of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland in the early morning hours of April 28, 2015. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Reuters)

An adorable baby owl has proved to be a real heart-breaker thanks to its heart-shaped head. Although Griffin the Lesser Sooty Owl might look like a feather duster, the tiny eight-week old chick will soon be ready to fly. And the heart outline that surrounds his giant eyes and beak means he is set to be the star of the bird show at Taronga Zoo, Sydney. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

Meet the world's smoothest cuddliest hedgehog. Names after brave hero, but Nelson is completely bald so when curled up he looks like an egg. Doesn't have a single prickle or strand of hair. Thought to be suffering a stress related alopecia following a trauma in the wild. Volunteers have been massaging him for half an hour a day for the last year to encourage spikes to grow. Now given up but he still gets daily massages because he enjoys them so much and to keep his cuddle skin soft and smooth. Unlike his namesake Nelson could not defend himself so will live out his days at the Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue in Hemsby, England. (Photo by Jeremy Durkin)

A bear that wandered into a University of Colorado Boulder dorm complex falls from a tree after being tranquilized by Colorado wildlife officials on April 26, 2012. Colorado wildlife official Jennifer Churchill said that the 200-pound male bear was tagged and relocated to a remote Rocky Mountain area. The bear was hit by two cars on May 3 and died. (Photo by Andy Duann)

Firefighters watch as an air tanker drops retardant while battling the Ferguson fire in the Stanislaus National Forest, near Yosemite National Park, California on July 21, 2018. A fire that claimed the life of one firefighter and injured two others near California's Yosemite national park has almost doubled in size in three days, authorities said Friday. (Photo by Noah Berger/AFP Photo)