Members of a local winter swimming club photograph as they take part in festive bathing in the icy waters of Boyarskoye lake outside Tomsk, Russia, December 26, 2021. (Photo by Taisiya Vorontsova/Reuters)

Girl scouts pose for a group photo at the third station of the Way of the Cross reenactment marking Good Friday, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 30, 2018. Thousands of Haitians are commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by reenacting the Way of the Cross, visiting the 14 stations, each marking an event that befell Jesus Christ on his final journey. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

A wildlife caregiver holds an orphaned wombat at the Native Wildlife Rescue center on January 29, 2020 in Robertson, Australia. The center has taken in many burned kangaroos and wallabies injured in recent bushfires. Wombat orphans are often rescued from the pouch of their mothers struck by vehicles. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

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)

Australian actress Joy Smithers poses beside a poster featuring Australian cricketer Brett Lee during the official launch of the AceStar underwear range at Pink Salt on August 19, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mike Flokis/Getty Images)

Anti-frost candles burn in apricot plantations to protect flowering buds and blossoms from frost in the midst of the Swiss Alps, in Saxon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland, 05 April 2019. With an unusually low temperature forecast for the season, fruit growers try to protect their buds from frost damage with two different means, icy water or large candles. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

A team of female cadets takes part in a tug-of-war competition at Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps in St Petersburg, Russia on March 7, 2021. (Photo by Peter Kovalev/TASS/Profimedia)

Vietnamese business students at Northampton University (L to R) Anh Nguyen, Phuong Nguyen, Tam Nguyen and Oanh Cao visit Hitchin Lavender farm in Arlesey, UK on July 9, 2017, to view and pick lavender. Currently in full bloom, the lavender attracts visitors from far and wide to this popular family run farm. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Alamy Live News)