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 moon light illuminates the sky through the clouds over a large line of grass between some home houses in the small village of Tafalla, northern Spain, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

Showgirl Amy Findlay after the the rehearsals for Circus Vegas in Newcastle, Britain on July 27, 2023. (Photo by Lee Smith/Reuters)

A fireman looks on as a Canadair aircraft drops water to extinguish a wildfire in Sicily's Trapani, Italy on August 27, 2023. (Photo by Antonio Cascio/Reuters)

Triathletes swim during an Ironman event in Taupō, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Invasion (laser girls) 2017. “I’m always thinking about my art practice, so any experience I have may spike a visual when I have an idea in mind. An example is that, when I was thinking about the Invasion series, I was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds (1963). I love Hitchcock’s other movies and have been contemplating a series based on Rear Window (1954). I also find inspiration outside the cinema in music clips and magazines”. (Photo by Michael Cook/Perimeter Books)

Demonstrators wear skull masks during an anti government protest, as Chile's President Michelle Bachelet delivers a speech inside the National Congress, in Valparaiso city, Chile May 21, 2016. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

Pope Francis attends a circus performance during his weekly general audience at Paul VI hall on December 22, 2016 at the Vatican. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP Photo)