Residents watch the ocean waves crash into the water front, after the passage of Hurricane Irma, in Cuba, Sunday, September 10, 2017. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

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 man sits next to a damaged idol of Hindu goddess Kali which was taken out after its immersion in the river Ganges in Haridwar, India, March 29, 2017. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Protesting women shout slogans during a demonstration against sexual violence in front of the governor's mansion in San Juan, Puerto Rico on May 3, 2021. The demonstrators denounce the inaction and slowness of the state in implementing the executive order declaring a state of emergency against gender-based violence. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AFP Photo)

A monkey tries to quenche its thirst from a water tap on a hot summer day in Prayagraj on May 20, 2023. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

Members of the Pentacle Drummers perform in front of a burning wicker man during the Beltain Celtic Fire Festival at Butser Ancient Farm, in Waterlooville, Hampshire on Saturday, April 29, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)

Bonobo apes, primates unique to Congo and humankind's closest relative, groom one another at a sanctuary just outside the capital Kinshasa, Congo on October 31, 2006. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)