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 picture taken on May 21, 2016 shows professional wrestlers fighting each other during the Wrestling City Asia organized by Singapore Pro Wrestling at a stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Kenneth Thexeira is a mild-mannered writer for an interior-design magazine by day, but on certain nights his alter ego bursts forth in golden tights and a baby-blue cape: enter “The Eurasian Dragon”. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

Female porters carry a holy woman belonging to the Jain community through a street to collect food from local residents living in nearby areas, during early morning in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad December 19, 2014. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A Sumatran Tiger looks at visiting children from it's enclosure during the ZSL London Zoo's annual stocktake of animals on January 5, 2015 in London, England. The zoo's annual stocktake requires keepers to check on the numbers of every one of the 800 different animal species, including every invertebrate, bird, fish, mammal, reptile, and amphibian. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Indonesian firefighters spray disinfectant at the public area near an elephant enclosure at Ragunan Zoo prior to its reopening this weekend after weeks of closure due to the large-scale restrictions imposed to help curb the new coronavirus outbreak, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, June 17, 2020. As Indonesia's overall virus caseload continues to rise, the capital city has moved to restore normalcy by lifting some restrictions, saying that the spread of the virus in the city of 11 million has slowed after peaking in mid-April. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

Ex-Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger and The Cuban Brothers perform at the de Grisogono party during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Villa des Oliviers on May 15, 2018 in Cap d'Antibes, France. (Photo by Goff Photos)

American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, actress and model Tinashe is seen on July 23, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by gotpap/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Colombia' s Caterine Ibarguen competes in the women' s long jump during the 2018 IAAF Birmingham Diamond League athletics meeting at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on August 18, 2018. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters)