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)

A man looks at a statue of the Greek god Poseidon on a beach during the passage of tropical storm Beryl in Progreso, on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, on July 5, 2024. Beryl weakened to a tropical storm Friday after hitting Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no injuries along the tourist-rich Yucatan Peninsula. (Photo by Hugo Borges/AFP Photo)

Valarie Allman, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's discus throw final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, August 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (Photo by David J. Phillip/AP Photo)

Girls Aloud: Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding and Cheryl Cole at Kimberley Walsh's birthday party hosted by Damian Darkko at Mint Nightclub in London, Britain on November 25, 2006. The Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has died at the age of 39, her mother has said in a post on Instagram. Issue date: Sunday September 5, 2021. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

English-French actress Jane Birkin shopping with a basket bag in Paris on June 4, 1970. (Photo by WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

The trees on the iconic local landmark are silhouetted against glorious sunrise colours on a misty morning near Colmers Hill in Dorset, England on May 1, 2019. (Photo by Celia McMahon/Alamy Live News)

A member of staff at Morton & Eden holds an extremely rare early Islamic gold coin on Thursday September 12, 2019, which is expected to fetch £1.4m at auction in London. Measuring a 20mm across, about the size of a modern £1 piece, it is one of the world's rarest and most treasured Islamic gold coins from the first dynasty of Islam, the Umayyad gold dinar dated 105h (723AD). (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)

Swedish brown bears “Fred” and “Frode” play in the snow on January 30, 2014 at the Natur- und Umweltpark (NUP) animal park in Guestrow, northeastern Germany. Despite of icy temperatures, the bear brothers took a break from their winter rest. (Photo by Bernd Wuestneck/AFP Photo/DPA)