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)

Pregnant Tibetan antelopes move across the Qinghai-Tibet highway in Hoh Xil, northwest China's Qinghai Province, May 29, 2023. A growing number of pregnant Tibetan antelopes are migrating to the heart of northwest China's Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve to give birth, according to the reserve's management office. Every year, tens of thousands of pregnant Tibetan antelopes start their migration to Hoh Xil in around May to give birth and leave with their offspring in late July. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)