An inmate with a tattoo of Santa Muerte (The Saint of Death) reacts in the Topo Chico prison, during a media tour, in Monterrey, Mexico, February 17, 2016. The director of a prison in northeast Mexico where 49 people died in a riot this week was accused of murder and detained, along with two others, a state prosecutor said on Saturday. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

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 photo provided by Skydive Chicago, escape artist Anthony Martin falls while handcuffed and locked inside a box after being dropped from an airplane over Ottawa, Ill., Tuesday, August 6, 2013. (Photo by Joe Silva/AP Photo/Courtesy of Skydive Chicago)

This adorable and unlikely pair of best friends are inseperable. Kitty the kitten was abandoned and Buttons the Jack Russell was rejected by his mum. They eat, sleep and play together while they are being hand reared at our centre in Old Windsor, Berkshire. We would love for them to find a new home together when they are ready to leave our care in the near future.

Skeleton involves a person riding a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down. The sport is a more intense form of luge because skeleton competitors leap onto the sled and slide downhill head first. Skeleton athletes can reach up to 80 mph on straightaways, causing forces up to 5g, so the helmet is a critical component for attitude as well as safety.

Muammar Gaddafi death photo. Do not worry – It's a fake.

Jockey student Mariangelys Almedina (Front) balances on a steel drum suspended in the air by a series of springs to simulate riding a horse as Instructor Willie Lozano looks on at the Vocational Equestrian Agustín Mercado Reverón School located in the Hipódromo Camarero on November 17, 2022 in Canovanas, Puerto Rico. The Vocational Equestrian Agustín Mercado Reverón School has produced some of the best jockeys in the world but also prepares students for a wide range of equestrian jobs on a tuition-free basis. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)