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)

On August 31, 2011, a puppy was rescued from a garbage bag in Central Florida. She was afflicted by a condition dubbed “swimmer puppy syndrome”, formally, pectus excavatum. It's rare in puppies, but when it happens it causes them to lie flat on their chests with their legs perpetually splayed out. It's usually a symptom of serious neurological problems that most puppies cannot survive. Veterinarians recommended putting her to sleep... (Photo by Flyin Fur Pet Photography)

For the past 20 years,Marco has divided his time photographing, traveling, and living between italy and France. He regularly participates in workshops in Paris. Sharpening his technical skills and learning to take risks. He has been investigating various photographic styles, including macro-photography of precious stones and insects, portraits and weddings. All of these subjects have given him the opportunity to bring his love for the medium into areas which challenges his capacity to be creative.

In this photograph taken on July 10, 2012, a Pakistani worker pulls on a wire he will connect to a thick chain that will in turn be used to peel away a slab of the outer structure of a beached vessel in one of the 127 ship-breaking plots in Geddani, some 40Kms west of Karachi. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP Photo)

A Mai-Mai rebel soldier shows off his guns at a checkpoint near the Mugunga refugee camp in Zaire; 1996. (Photo by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post)

A lightning strikes through smoke from fuel storage tanks that exploded near Cuba's supertanker port in Matanzas, Cuba on August 8, 2022. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Award-winning photographer Alex Bernasconi has captured thousands of images – from hiding hippos to wandering zebras – in his travels across Africa. His amazing work features in a new edition of his book Wild Africa. These amazing pictures create a snapshot of the life of some of the planet’s most spectacular animals and natural habitats. Photo: “Wild Africa”. (Photo by Alex Bernasconi)

Tourist Police sit in the shade on a road leading to the Coptic Cairo area on May 27, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Protests in January and February brought an end to 30 years of autocratic rule by President Hosni Mubarak who will now face trial. Food prices have doubled and youth unemployment stands at 30%. Tourism is yet to return to pre-uprising levels. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)