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)

In this handout image provided by the City of New York, a Nissan NV200 is seen as a New York City taxi cab in New York City. The Taxi and Limousine Commission along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the Nissan NV200 designed by Nissan North America, Inc., has been chosen as the winner of the Taxi of Tomorrow competition and will become the City's exclusive taxicab for a decade. (Photo by City of New York via Getty Images)

Male is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. The city is geographically located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll (Kaafu Atoll). Administratively, it is a city-class constituency and is governed by the Malé City Council. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located. The city was then called “Mahal”. Formerly it was a walled city surrounded by fortifications and gates (doroshi).

A dancer practices prior to her audition to be Rockettes for the “2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” at Radio City Music Hall in in New York City, U.S., April 20, 2023. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Members of the Radio City Rockettes rehearse for the “2022 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., October 19, 2022. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Radio City Music Hall Rockettes perform after days of rehearsal and routine polished to perfection at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City on July 26, 1949. (Photo by Ivan Dmitri/Getty Images)

Schick Hydro and Chanel Iman get guys #NakedFaced at the Schick Hydro Barbershop at The Sports Illustrated Swim City Event on February 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Schick)

Sky attends the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on August 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Rex Features/Shutterstock)