Young female Ibex on the fork of Disteis (2,200 m), near the top of the Jof di Montasio (Friuli, Italy). (Photo by Stefano Zocca)

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 great tit eats food from the top of a photographer's hat as the press wait for politicians on Downing Street on December 16, 2019 in London, England. The UK's Prime Minister is set to hold a mini Cabinet reshuffle to replace outgoing ministers following last week's general election victory. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Buyan, a male Siberian brown bear, cools down under a stream of water sprayed by an employee in an enclosure on a hot summer day, at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Krasnoyarsk, Russia on June 14, 2019. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Julia Marino of USA in action during the final run of the snowboard slopestyle competition at the Laax Open, in Laax, Switzerland, 17 January 2020. (Photo by Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Shepherd brothers Mustafa Erbay and Baran Erbay train their camels on snowy grounds, enabling them to become champions in competitions held in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions in Baskale district of Van, Turkey on February 1, 2020. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A streaker races across the field and is caught by security during the Super Rugby match between New Zealand's Highlanders and South Africa's Sharks at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on February 7, 2020. (Photo by Marty Melville/AFP Photo)

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)