Bikini-clad women sit as they operate a 3.6 metre-high custom-made female robot at the “Robot Restaurant” in Kabukicho, one of Tokyo's best known red light districts, August 15, 2012. (Photo by Tokyo Scum Brigade)

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 talks on her cellphone as she walks around Tajrish commercial district without wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 29, 2023. More women are choosing not to wear the mandatory headscarf, or the hijab, publicly in Iran. Such open defiance of the law follows months of protests over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country's morality police, for wearing her hijab too loosely. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

A man is reflected in the water as he sleeps on the street in Kathmandu, Nepal, 27 June 2023. Despite the Meteorological Forecasting Division of Nepal already announcing the onset of the monsoon season in the country on June 14, 2023, the monsoon rainfall has not been significantly active yet. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

Dogs and humans dressed in all manner of costume participate in the 32nd Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade inside Tompkins Square Park on October 22, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Schwartz/Splash News and Pictures)

A soldier reacts after falling off a horse as members of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, arrive at Green Park for a gun salute celebrating the King's birthday in London on November 14, 2022. King Charles III is celebrating his first birthday as monarch as he turns 74. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)

Men, wearing traditional clothes, are seen as “Pir Shaliar” event, which is celebrated twice a year, continues in the Hawraman, Iran on January 30, 2025. At the event, def teams consisting of men and women formed dhikr rings by playing the def on the slopes of the mountain accompanied by hymns. (Photo by Fariq Faraj Mahmood/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A rescued otter cub named Mingo is receiving specialist care after being found in July 2025 in the flamingo habitat at Colchester Zoo, far from where he should have been. He is being raised with two other cubs at the UK Wild Otter Trust’s centre in Devon, UK. (Photo by UK Wild Otter Trust/Cover Images)