Brendan Fitzpatrick is a commercial photographer specialising in advertising and lifestyle photography. He also creates unique X-ray images marketed under the banner Invisible Light. Brendan is based in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendan Fitzpatrick)

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)

A policewoman uses her mobile phone as navy honor guards stand near of a World War Two memorial during celebrations to mark Victory Day in the Black Sea port of Odessa May 9, 2014. Ukraine celebrates the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany during World War Two on May 9. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

It's a 30-day-old Echidna baby, known as a “puggle” – one of only 24 ever bred in captivity. The proud parents are Tippy and Pickle of Australia Zoo. The tiny baby, whose s*x has not yet been identified, hatched from a soft egg and will continue to develop and nurse inside Tippy's warm pouch. (Photo by Australia Zoo/Rex/Sipa Press)

In this picture taken late on June 13, 2017, physiotherapist Masayuki Ozaki takes a bath with his silicone s*x doll Mayu at a love hotel in Yachimata, Chiba prefecture. Around 2,000 of the life- like dolls – which cost around 6,000 USD and come with adjustable fingers, removable head and life- like genitals – are sold each year in Japan, according to industry insiders. (Photo by Behrouz Mehri/AFP Photo)

A model makes a video call backstage during the Lakme Fashion Week X FDCI in Mumbai, India, Thursday, March 9, 2023. At the recently held premier fashion event, the backstage was buzzing as everyone from the hair and make-up artist to the stylist and the designer raced to get that perfect look that would stand out on the catwalk. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

In this Saturday, June 14, 2014 file photo, two women kiss in front of a rainbow flag, the symbol of the gay rights movement, during the Gay Pride parade in central Athens, Greece. Ahead of May 21, general elections, Alexis Tsipras, head of the main left-wing opposition party, Syriza, promised on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 to legalize same-s*x marriage if he becomes the next prime minister. (Photo by Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo)

Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shine over the plane wreck of a US Navy airplane – a Douglas Super DC-3 – on the Black Beach in Solheimasandur, south Iceland on January 18, 2018. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)