A group of girls hit the town in York, United Kingdom on December 30, 2020. Revellers hit the streets for a final drink before being plunged into Tier 4 lockdown. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

Fire retardant is dropped on the Fairview Fire burning near Hemet, California, U.S., September 6, 2022. (Photo by David Swanson/Reuters)

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)

White-robed men hold up flaming torches during an annual fire festival at the World Heritage-listed Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine in the Wakayama Prefecture town of Nachikatsuura, western Japan on July 14, 2022. (Photo by Kyodo News/Newscom/Avalon)

These men are chased by the defiant elephants on May 4, 2013. Taken by Biplab Hazra in Bishnupur, India, the images show the extreme lengths the inhabitants of the town go to to deter elephants from damaging their crops and property. Elephants encroaching out of their habitats is an increasingly common occurrence with deforestation in much of India. (Photo by Biplab Hazra/Caters News Agency)

Andreyka, a 10-month-old female bear cub, plays with Rommi, an Alaskan malamute, at the Siberian Zoo in the settlement of Listvyanka, Irkutsk Region, Russia on December 9, 2020. The bear cub, which was found in a weak condition earlier this year, now play-fights with the Alaskan malamute, who adopted her and has seen three generations of bear cubs brought up in the Siberian zoo and released back into the wild. (Photo by Yuri Novikov/Reuters)

Palestinian man Mohammed al-Hoor, 23, demonstrates his street workout skills in Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2017. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A participant takes part at performance of Mexican dance academy to protest against authorities due not allow freedom of labor union during the celebration of International Dance Day at Palace of Fine Arts (Palacio de Bellas Artes) on April 29, 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Eyepix/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)