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

This long exposure picture shows vehicles on roads during rush hour on the eve of the National Day holidays in Shanghai on September 30, 2014. According to local media, police checkpoints will be set up at highways, elevated roads and business hubs to tackle drunk driving during the National Day holiday. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Kim Kardashian heads out in Miami wearing a see-through nude color top on September 17, 2016. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

A printed photograph taken on September 28, 2017 shows people bathing on the highway after Hurricane Maria destroyed people's homes, held up at the same spot of the highway where motorcyclists ride past in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, May 27, 2018. Thanks to the owners of the land alongside the highway, creek water was piped to the side of the road for people without water to use for bathing, washing clothes and dishes. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

Supermodel Bella Hadid (L) arrives at the Peppermint Club to watch her bestfriend, Jesse Jo Stark, perform her music in Los Angeles, CA on August 29, 2018. (Photo by Photographer Group/Splash News and Pictures)

(L-R) Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix attend the KISS FM Haunted House Party at SSE Arena on October 29, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Dave J. Hogan/Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images)

Cambridge policemen, known as “Bulldogs”, lined up for the University Bulldogs Chase, dressed in morning coats and top hats, 7th March 1936. (Photo by H. Allen/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)