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)

Awkwafina poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy for “The Farewell” at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, January 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Girls during a class at the Teire Irish dance school in Moscow, Russia on March 15, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/TASS)

A lone male cheetah is set upon by a pack of African wild dogs. Peter Haygarth had been following the dogs as they hunted in Zimanga Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. On first encountering the cheetah, the dogs were wary, but as the rest of the pack arrived, their confidence grew and they began to encircle the cat. Peter kept his focus on the cat’s face. In a few minutes the spat was over as the cheetah fled. (Behaviour: mammals category). (Photo by Peter Haygarth)

Russian honor guard soldiers warm up prior a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The parade will take place at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square on May 9, to celebrate 72 years after the victory in WWII. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Rescuers attempt attempt to push stranded whales back into the ocean at Ujong Kareng beach in Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, November 13, 2017. An official said a small pod of whales was stranded at the beach and attracted hundreds of onlookers who posed for pictures with them. (Photo by AP Photo/Zulkarnaini)

Nigerian make-up artist, Mary Oni, creates artwork on her chest using make-up, in her home in Lagos, Nigeria on January 26, 2022. (Photo by Seun Sanni/Reuters)

An Asian elephant cools off at the zoo during the World Elephant Day in Lodz, central Poland, 12 August 2022. The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12. (Photo by Grzegorz Michalowski/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)