A woman waters the plants outside her house in an alley at a slum in Mumbai October 28, 2014. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

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)

Nikki Reed is seen shopping at American Rag in Los Angeles, CA., on May 14, 2014. (Photo by Bauergriffin.com)

A couple takes a selfie as Hoa Binh hydroelectric power plant opens the flood gates after a heavy rainfall caused by Talas typhoon in Hoa Binh province, outside Hanoi, Vietnam July 20, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

A student wearing a face mask prays before the start of the annual college entrance examination amid the coronavirus pandemic at an exam hall in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, December 3, 2020. South Korean officials are urging people to remain at home if possible and cancel gatherings as about half a million students prepare for a crucial national college exam. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP Photo)

People pose for pictures on the banks of Yangtze River on New Year's Eve in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province on December 31, 2020. (Photo by Noel Celis/AFP Photo)

Visitors look at an elephant swimming in a pool at Khao Kheow Zoo in Chonburi, east of Bangkok, Thailand on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Mortuary Chamber of the Ponte San Pietro Hospital in the Province of Bergamo on March 18, 2020 – the area in Italy where the highest number of infections was recorded by COVID19 Coronavirus. (Photo by Carlo Cozzoli/IPA/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)