Australian jouster Kimberly Belcher poses for a portrait in her armour on the sidelines of the jousting tournament at the St Ives Medieval Fair in Sydney, one of the largest of its kind in Australia, September 22, 2016. (Photo by Jason Reed/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)

A robot used to assist Covid-19 patients is seen in an elevator on December 5, 2020 in New Delhi, India. The “Mitra” robot can connect patients with their loved ones, and can assist healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic by minimisng the risk of infections caused by close contact. The Yatharth Hospital, which is treating Covid-19 patients in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, is one of a handful of hospitals in India that has started to use robots. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images)

A great tit eats food from the top of a photographer's hat as the press wait for politicians on Downing Street on December 16, 2019 in London, England. The UK's Prime Minister is set to hold a mini Cabinet reshuffle to replace outgoing ministers following last week's general election victory. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Buddy the dog peers from a vehicle before the start of a movie at a drive in cinema in Snagov, Romania, Monday, June 1, 2020. Romania further loosened the measures imposed during a nationwide lockdown in order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 infections, with museums, open air restaurants, cinemas and beaches opening for public on Monday. (Photo by Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo)

Romanian female soldiers stand prior to the military parade on Romania's National Day in Bucharest, on December 1, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Mihailescu/AFP Photo)

Men tackle a bull as they participate in the annual bull-taming sport of Jallikattu played to celebrate the harvest festival of Pongal on January 15, 2023 in Avaniyapuram, near Madurai, India. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)

A fox cub with some bluebells in some woodland at Wye Valley near Gloucester, United Kingdom on April 29, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Winstone/Picture Exclusive)