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)

Josef Tödtling – Longest duration full-body burn (without oxygen) Guinness World Records 2016. Location: Styria, Austria. (Photo by Richard Bradbury/Guinness World Records)

A bullied student with vitiligo is celebrating learning to love her skin by turning it into art making a world map, flowers and even a Van Gogh painting. Ashley Soto, 21, from Orlando in Florida, USA, has found turning her white patches of skin into art has empowered her and helped her to embrace her vitiligo. Here are some of the art pieces Ashleys made to celebrate and embrace her vitiligo from a world map to simply tracing her vitiligo and also Van Goghs Starry Night. (Photo by Ashley Soto/Caters News Agency)

A vendor stands in a flooded flower market following heavy monsoon rains in Mumbai on September 23, 2020. (Photo by Sujit Jaiswal/AFP Photo)

People visit the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, California, to view the flowers blooming on April 6, 2023. California’s biologically diverse landscapes are home to more than 7,000 species of native plants, and the California Poppy, also known as golden poppy, a flowering plant native to the United States and Mexico became the official state flower in 1903. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

A woman poses for a photo next to lotus flowers in West lake in Hanoi, Vietnam, 09 June 2025.. Lotus flowers bloom from late May to August in Vietnam and are commonly found growing in the muddy waters of lakes and ponds across the country. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA)

Women wearing flower and sprout-like hairpins walk past an advertisement board in Beijing, China, September 25, 2015. Wearing antenna styled hairpins in the shape of various flowers and plants at scenic spots has become a new trend in Beijing. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Gemma Sadler models a fabulous Georgian costume, including a wig made from flowers and foliage created by Florist of the Year Helen James, during the staging day for the 2021 Harrogate Autumn Flower Show at Newby Hall, near Ripon, United Kingdom on Thursday, September 16, 2021. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)