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)

Nguyen Manh Quan (top), 26, a civil servant, carries a girl using his throat area as he performs during a showcase of the traditional Thien Mon Dao kung fu at Du Xa Thuong village, southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam May 10, 2015. Thien Mon Dao, a traditional Vietnamese martial art, was formed by 18th century villagers in Du Xa Thuong village, who believed the art form could help improve health as well as fight against foreign invaders. There are currently about 3,000 practitioners including farmers, industry workers and state servants. These practitioners say they are able to bend metal against their bodies and carry heavy objects using their throats, eyes or tongues, as well as run across the surface of a river, according to Thien Mon Dao kung fu master Nguyen Khac Phan. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

A worker covers mounds of rice with a giant hat-shaped bamboo cone in a field in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh on September 21, 2023 after they have been dried in the scoring sun. (Photo by Joy Saha/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

One of the invited tattoo artists, Tom Storm, works on the arm of Kerrie Hibbert at the 2017 Tattoo Collective event at the Old Truman Brewery in London, England on February 17, 2017. (Photo by PA Wire)

The BADGER shot was a 23 kiloton nuclear bomb. Over 2,000 US soldiers were within 3.7 kilometers of the explosion. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

To draw the public's attention to a new line of bathing suits, a Tokyo department store used live models to show off the suits on June 5, 1950. The rain didn't bother the curious, and both the girls and the crowd seemed to like the idea of staring at each other through the glass. (Photo by AP Photo via The Atlantic)

A greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) displaying in Badigaki Forest, Wokam Island (Aru Islands, Indonesia). Found here in Aru and on adjacent New Guinea, the greater bird of paradise represents about 40 different species of birds of paradise that depend on intact rainforest across the New Guinea region spanning eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. With more than 80% of forest cover still intact, this region represents the largest remaining block of rainforest in the entire Asia-Pacific. (Photo by Tim Laman/naturepl.com/LDY Agency)

For her book “Perfect Imperfection”, the Australian pet photographer Alex Cearns set out to capture the personalities of animals who adapt to their damaged or different bodies without complaint. Part of the proceeds from sales of Perfect Imperfection go to the Australian Animal Cancer Foundation. Here: “Bali Pip”. Bali street dog. Had the skin condition mange. (Photo by Alex Cearns/The Guardian)