Children eat watermelons to meet the “beginning of autumn” at a kindergarten in Handan, China on August 7, 2015. Chinese tradition to eat watermelons or peaches before that day symbolises “biting away summer”. The solar term ‘beginning of autumn’ falls on 8 August this year. (Photo by Xinhua/REX Shutterstock)

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 devotee dressed as a Roman soldier whips a penitent playing the role of one of two thieves sentenced to be crucified alongside Jesus Christ, during the Via Crucis or Way of the Cross reenactment in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 15, 2022. Holy Week commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

Racegoers brave the rain during 2022 Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 1, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Martin Keep/Getty Images for VRC)

A handout photo provided by the Police department in Lippe on 01 June 2015 of a British “Challenger 2” tank after it rolled over a car's front in Lippe, Germany, 01 June 2015. Police reported that a 18-year old female driving beginner from Detmold apparently overlooked a convoy of tanks when she turned left onto the Panzeringstrasse (lit. Tank Ring Road). (Photo by EPA/Polizei Lippe)

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a graffiti, after authorities eased lockdown restrictions that were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, June 12, 2020. (Photo by Hemanshi Kamani/Reuters)

Polish artist Agnieszka Pilat poses with the artwork of her robot painting dogs – Basia Spot and Bunny Spot – who have become artists painting on canvases with their paws, at the launch of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Triennial 2023 in Melbourne on April 5, 2023. Pilat works with the Boston Dynamics dogs, training them to paint autonomously through AI technology individually and collaboratively, and will be part of more than 100 local and international artists, designers and collectives presenting at the exhibition opening in December. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

“Lobsang and 66 fellow monks were imprisoned in 1959. When released 21 years later, he was one of only three survivors. While in prison his best friend, a rinpoche, died in his arms. Tensin was later discovered to be the reincarnation of that friend. Lobsang said there are so many characteristics of his old friend in the young boy”. (Photo and caption by Phil Borges)