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)

Visitors look at a giant puppet of a grandmother sleeping on a bed inside St George's Hall in Liverpool, northern England July 23, 2014. The grandmother is one of two giant models made for a World War I commemorative event. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Reuters)

A team of ten acrobats form the shape of a racehorse crossing the winning post ridden by Stefanie Hofer to celebrate the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot Racecourse on July 29, 2014 in Ascot, England. The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is the only team-format raceday in the UK and takes place on 9th August. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse)

Common seals are reintroduced to the wild on the beach of the island Juist, Germany, 28 July 2014. It is the first reintroduction to the wild drive of the seal breading station Norddeich this year. (Photo by Carmen Jaspersen/EPA)

The 26th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest is now accepting submissions. Official categories include: “Travel Portraits”, “Outdoor Scenes”, “Sense of Place” and “Spontaneous Moments”. The contest is accepting entries until June 30. Photo: “Forest lights”. Aurora Borealis over the forest of the Pyhae Luosto National Park, Finland. (Photo and caption by Nicholas Roemmelt/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

“Thunderstruck”. Summer stom. A super cell formed off the coast of New Zealand, intensified and swept across Christchurch and North Canterbury, February 23, 2014. Photo location: Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo and caption by David Hardy/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Recording artist Ariana Grande performs onstage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 19, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Trevor Olson, from Minnesota, dressed as the character “Joker”, poses for a photograph at New York's Comic Con convention, October 9, 2014, in New York City. The event draws thousands of costumed fans, panels of pop culture luminaries and features a sprawling floor of vendors in a space equivalent to more than three football fields in Javits Center. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)