A dragonfly rests on a leaf in Hinojedo, Cantabria, northern Spain, 01 June 2023. (Photo by Pedro Puente Hoyos/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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)

Afghan bodybuilders compete in the Mr. Afghanistan bodybuilding competition in Kabul on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

People wade through a road flooded by heavy rain in Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture, western Japan, Saturday, August 14, 2021. Torrential rain pounding southwestern Japan triggered a mudslide early Friday that swallowed some people and was threatening to cause flooding and more landslides in the region. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)

“The Range Rover Evoque is a compact hatchback in production since 2011 from Land Rover. The production model was announced on July 1, 2010, and it designed to address the requirement for reduced CO2 emissions. A near production concept of the crossover SUV was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show as the Land Rover LRX in January 2008, and production began in 2011”. – Wikipedia

Photo: George Lamb attends the launch of the new Range Rover Evoque at Halewood Operations at Jaguar Land Rover on July 4, 2011 in Liverpool, England. The Range Rover Evoque started production on July 4th at Halewood Operations. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Range Rover)

A passenger (L) gets inside a decorated matatu as other passengers wait for it to fill at night in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, 24 March 2018. The Matatu culture is very big in Kenya, the minibuses are decorated with colorful graffiti inside and outside and most of them are equipped with TV screens, high-speed internet, and power sockets. (Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA/EFE)

Tourists play in front of a 3D painting on the wall of a house in Luoyuan village, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, August 26, 2015. The village hired a team to put on 3D paintings all over the valley as a method to attract tourists and improve the income of local villagers, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Supporters enjoy the atmosphere before watching England's second World Cup match against USA on the big screen at Road to Victory, Europe's largest World Cup fan park at Mayfield Depot on November 25, 2022 in Manchester, England. The English team came into their second World Cup 2022 match favoured to win. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)