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)

The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. The spa is located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwestern Iceland. Bláa lónið is situated approximately 13 km (8 miles) from the Keflavík International Airport and 39 km (24 miles) from the capital city of Reykjavík. That is roughly a 20 minute drive from the airport and a 40 minute drive from Reykjavík.

Demonstrators take part in a mass “face-sitting protest” outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on December 12, 2014, as they protest against changes to p*rnography regulations. An amendment to the 2003 Communities Act applies the same strict rules to p*rn bought online as those included in the guidelines set out by the British Board of Film Censors for DVDs. The new laws ban films that feature s*x acts, such as spanking, caning, strangulation, aggressive whipping, humiliation, and face-sitting. Ministers say the rules have been brought in to protect s*x workers. But campaigners say it is an attempt to censor and control the internet. Paid-for videos shot overseas and viewed online in the UK are not affected by the new rules, which were introduced on December 2, 2014. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)

Two brides kiss during their wedding ceremony to each other at the wedding registry office in St. Petersburg November 7, 2014. The two St. Petersburg women married in the official city ceremony last week, seemingly circumventing Russia's ban on same-s*x marriages. One of the brides was born a man but is undergoing hormone therapy and considers herself a woman. Though her male passport identity ensured the marriage was legal by Russian law, a St. Petersburg lawmaker has vowed to nullify their wedding. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

s*x workers, wearing decorative skull masks, march through the streets in downtown Mexico City, Friday, October 28, 2016. The women march with candles to an altar dedicated to their departed colleagues, many who died violently at the hands of their customers. This annual procession, tied to the Day of the Dead festivities, has taken place for more than 20 years. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

Students salute after a man cast his vote at a polling station during the new Family Code referendum in Havana on September 25, 2022. Cubans on Sunday are voting in a landmark referendum on whether to legalize same-s*x marriage and adoption, allow surrogate pregnancies, and give greater rights to non-biological parents. (Photo by Adalberto Roque/AFP Photo)

A woman rides a horse through the biannual Stow Horse Fair in the town of Stow-on-the-Wold, southern England on October 24, 2019. The Stow Horse Fair has attracted Gypsy and Traveller people from all over the country to the Cotswold town every May and October since 1476. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)

An Israeli soldier prays in front of a tank at a military staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in this July 24, 2014 file photo. Israel's long-running struggle to balance modern standards with Jewish tradition has come to a head in the military, where new orders curtailing beards among soldiers have met protests from some rabbis. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)