Iraqi teenagers swim in waste water from the nearby Tuweitha nuclear facility near Baghdad, Iraq on May 28, 2003. Iraqis are consuming contaminated water unaware of the dangerous pollutants that can cause severe ill health. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A young girl works at a construction site in Patiala district, Rajpura, India on November 20, 2019. (Photo by Saqib Majeed/Barcroft Media)

The sun sets on Walney Island, Cumbria, county in North West England on October 10, 2019. Today will be unsettled with spells of heavy rain. (Photo by GREENBURN/Alamy Live News)

A boy crouches to avoid the camera as he runs past the body of a man killed during clashes between police and gang members, in the Martissant neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, October 2, 2021. Haitian gangs have seized control of more land and committed more crimes than ever before – all without a care. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

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)

Passengers hold 500 (bottom) rupee banknotes to buy train tickets at a railway booking counter in Allahabad, India, November 9, 2016. People are queuing up outside banks across India to exchange 500 and 1,000 rupee notes after they were withdrawn as part of anti-corruption measures. Indians will be able to exchange their old notes, which stopped being legal tender at midnight on Tuesday, for new ones at banks until 30 December. The surprise move is part of a government crackdown on corruption and illegal cash holdings. Banks were shut on Wednesday to allow them enough time to stock new notes. There are also limits on cash withdrawals from ATMs. The BBC's Yogita Limaye in Mumbai says there have been chaotic scenes outside many banks. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

An Afghan man prepares tea for customers at a roadside tea shop on the outskirts of Jalalabad February 2, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

Cubans swim in a natural swimming pool off the coast of Havana on August 4, 2023. With the current hot summer, Havana residents have rushed to the dilapidated natural pools on the coast of their city, built by wealthy families in the first half of the last century. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)