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)

This April 30, 2016 image made available by NOAA shows a deep sea anglerfish living between pillow basalt rock formations, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and Saipan. The ambush predator waits for prey to be attracted by its lure, located between its eyes, and gulps it with its large mouth. (Photo by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via AP Photo)

Santi Diaz Mosquera, 41, a “percebeiro” (barnacle fisherman), collects barnacles on rocks on the coast of Ferrol, in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, December 15, 2016. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

A wide-angle view shows the ascent of the shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. In the seconds after ignition, the rocket engines' hot blast began the process of destruction. (Photo by NASA)

Adventurer Sam Cossman movies towards the huge lava lake wearing a custom built industrial proximity heat suit on December 20, 2014 in Ambrym, Vanuatu. (Photo by Conor Toumarkine/Barcroft Media)

An emu runs to escape an approaching wildfire as it burns near Potero, California, U.S. June 20, 2016. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

A seafood vendor moves a giant swordfish to his stall at a market in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, September 12, 2015. The 4.1-metre-long (13.5 feet) swordfish, weighed about 309.5 kilograms (682 lbs), was caught by local fishermen on Friday, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Bystanders look at MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground and from which oil is leaking near Blue Bay Marine Park in south-east Mauritius on August 6, 2020. The carrier, belonging to a Japanese company but Panamanian-flagged, ran aground on July 25 and its crew was evacuated safely. The ship was empty at the time but was carrying 200 tonnes of diesel and 3,800 tonnes of bunker fuel, according to the local press. (Photo by Dev Ramkhelawon/L'Express Maurice/AFP Photo)