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)

“Hard for Life”. (Photo by Theo Vu Xuan/Sony World Photography Awards/WENN.com)

Hungarian model Barbara Palvin arrives for the 2019 CFDA fashion awards at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City on June 3, 2019. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP Photo)

Jamaican musical artist Shenseea attends the 2022 MTV VMAs at Prudential Center on August 28, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Catherine Powell/Getty Images for MTV/Paramount Global)

American singer Ashton Nicole Casey, better known as Ashnikko poses as she arrives for the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, February 18, 2020. (Photo by Simon Dawson/Reuters)

A model wearing a Maxime Rappaz design, winner of the Annabelle Award, walks the runway during the second day of the Charles Voegele Fashion Days on November 10, 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by The Image Gate/Getty Images for IMG)

DJ Deadmau5 arrives at Spike TV's “2011 Video Game Awards” at Sony Studios on December 10, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Selena Gomez, left, and Taylor Swift arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, August 30, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Photo)