Embers remain among the debris after most of the buildings were burned to the ground in a wildfire at Gounsa Temple in Uiseong on March 26, 2025. At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing “unprecedented damage”, the acting president said. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

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)

In this October 29, 2013 photo, Daniel smokes marijuana inside his apartment where he uses a hydroponics system to grow his weed in Mexico City. “I'm not a narco, dude. I just like to smoke”, said Daniel, who spoke on condition that his last name not be used because, he said, his home-grow operation is "super-illegal" despite being for personal use only. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

A Rohingya refugee child with thanaka paste is seen in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, July 4, 2018. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

Canadian actress Nina Dobrev needs an umbrella whilst leaving her hotel in Paris, France on March 4, 2019. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

A woman poses for a photo at Hitchin Lavender farm in Ickleford, Britain, August 4, 2020. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

A woman walks past a mural amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manchester, Britain, January 4, 2021. (Photo by Phil Noble/Reuters)

Elephants dust themselves with soil at Taigan safari park in Belogorsk, Crimea on May 4, 2021. (Photo by Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters)