Young female Ibex on the fork of Disteis (2,200 m), near the top of the Jof di Montasio (Friuli, Italy). (Photo by Stefano Zocca)

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)

Sunrise over a moor viewed from Littaford Tor, Dartmoor, UK, 2016. Autumn visits the windswept moors and granite tors of Dartmoor earlier than the rest of the south-west. While there aren’t many trees here, autumn shades appear in golden ferns and tan heather. Littaford Tors, near Two Bridges and a mile from Princetown, is a short walk and can be combined with a visit to the adjacent Wistman’s Wood. (Photo by Stuart Holmes)

A supporter dressed as flamingo cheers on the riders during the 12th stage of the 102nd Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy – cycle race, 158kms from Cuneo to Pinerolo on May 23, 2019. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on February 26, 2019 shows an aerial view of a tea field in Zhangping in China's eastern Fujian province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

In this aerial view fishing boats are seen on the shore of the Lake Malawi at the Senga village on May 20, 2019 in Senga, Malawi. Hundreds of local traders gather each morning and afternoon at Senga, but fish populations are falling in Lake Malawi, Africa's third largest body of freshwater. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP Photo)

The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen in the sky in Ivalo of Lapland, Finland on September 27, 2019. (Photo by Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters)

A vendor prepares paan, a betel nut-based chewable stimulant at a flower market in Kolkata, India, January 18, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)