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)

Combat between two male stag beetles, Italy, 2022. During the mating season, male stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) go into a frenzy, with lively but harmless clashes, in which bigger males often have the advantage over smaller ones due to their impressive mandibles. Longer larval development and genetic traits can increase the size of some individuals, but all saproxylic beetles are threatened by poor forest management, logging and dead wood removal to “clean” the forest. (Photo by Iacopo Nerozzi)

A dog walks on the street as it snows in Kyoto on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

Underwater photographer of the year 2020 and wide angle category winner: Frozen Mobile Home by Greg Lecoeur (France) in the Antarctic peninsula, Antarctica. Crabeater seals swim around an iceberg. These massive and mysterious habitats are dynamic kingdoms that support marine life. As they swing and rotate slowly through polar currents, icebergs fertilise the oceans by carrying nutrients from land that spark blooms of phytoplankton, fundamental to the carbon cycle. (Photo by Greg Lecoeur/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Looking for love by Tony Wu, USA. Highly commended, Animal Portraits. “Accentuating his mature appearance with pastel colours, protruding lips and an outstanding pink forehead, this Asian sheepshead wrasse sets out to impress females and see off rivals, which he will head-butt and bite, near Japan’s remote Sado Island. Individuals start out as females, and when they reach a certain age and size – up to a metre (more than 3 feet) long – can transform into males. Long-lived and slow-growing, the species is intrinsically vulnerable to overfishing”. (Photo by Tony Wu/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Michael Pankratz’s intriguing works focus specifically on the feet of tarantulas – an appendage that many have perhaps never focused on. The extreme close-ups of tarantulas’ “paws” show fine, colourful hairs, and sharp claws. Here: Brachypelma albopilosum, foot detail. (Photo by Michael Pankratz/Caters News Agency)

Visitors review their cell phone photos of an installation called “Plexus A1” by artist Gabriel Dawe, one of nine large-scale art installations displayed at the “Wonders” exhibit at the Renwick Art Gallery in Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 13, 2016. Built in the 1860s, the Renwick was the first American building to be designed specifically as an art museum; it recently reopened after a two year renovation. (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA)

Attendees look at Volkswagen's BUDD-e, a long distance electric vehicle, displayed during a press event at CES 2016 at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on January 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs from January 6-9 and is expected to feature 3,600 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 150,000 attendees. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)