A tamed hawk sits on a chair next to a participant during a traditional hunting contest in Almaty, Kazakhstan on December 1, 2018. (Photo by Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters)
A woman carries her son in a bucket after collecting water from a municipal water tanker on the outskirts of Chennai, India, July 4, 2019. (Photo by P. Ravikumar/Reuters)
A Kashmiri man cover his head with plastic bag as it snows in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, November 7, 2019. The region received its first snow on Wednesday, bringing temperatures down drastically and affecting air and vehicular traffic. (Photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo)
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)
An ice swimming enthusiast dressed as Neptune takes to the frigid waters of Orankesee lake during the 27th annual "Winter Swimming in Berlin" on January 8, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. A local swimmers' group called the “Berlin Seals” invite ice swimmers from across Germany and abroad to the annual event. Members claim ice swimming is good for the body's blood circulation. (Photo by Sean Gallup)