“Hiding In The Shadows”. This Baby Sandhill taking refuge under Moms wings while sitting on her second egg. I witnessed this baby being born earlier that day,and the next morning saw the other one hatch,what a sight to see. Photo location: Deland, Florida. (Photo and caption by Scott Helfrich/National Geographic Photo Contest)

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)

An aerial view taken with a drone shows the autumnally colored Fuerst-Pueckler-Park near Cottbus, eastern Germany, Saturday, October 29, 2016. The park, composed with great sensitivity in the 19th century by Prince Hermann von Pueckler-Muskau, is considered as one of the last great German landscape gardens. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/DPA via AP Photo)

A competitor reacts as she takes part in the “Tough Guy” adventure race near Wolverhampton, central England, on January 29, 2017. The Tough Guy event, which is being held for the final time in its 30th year, challenges thousands of competitors to run a gruelling course whilst negotiating over 200 obstacles including: water, fire, and tunnels. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)

This watering hole is the social hub of the veldt; the scrubby grasslands that stretch across Namibia. The scorched earth supports sometimes fragile populations of magnificent wildlife – from endangered predators to plentiful herds of game. But these gentle giraffes and elephants need to be careful: lions don’t sleep at night, they hunt! The spectacular starscape above southern Africa is unchanged since explorers first mapped the continent. The photographer, Pietro Olivetta from Italy, said he had to be patient to capture these shots – but it was worth the wait. (Photo by Pietro Olivetta/Caters News)

Members of the audience sit in the centre of the catwalk as the watch models for the C/MEO Collective walk by at Fashion Week Australia in Sydney on May 17, 2017. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

In this Wednesday, August 2, 2017 photo, Borre, an 8-year-old cat sits in a basket next to the canal on the Catboat shelter in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In the heart of the Dutch capital, on a canal near one of the busiest shopping streets, a floating animal sanctuary called The Catboat provides refuge for about 50 stray and abandoned felines. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

The Sun rises above the forest near Kiskorpad, Hungary, 02 January 2021. (Photo by Gyorgy Varga/EPA/EFE)