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)

Owner Elizabeth Wilson groomes her Chinese Crested and Coton De Tulear dogs during the annual Crufts Dog Show at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, Britain, March 10, 2016. The world's largest dog show will be held from March 10 to 13 with 22,000 dogs competing for the world class title of Crufts Best In Show. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/EPA)

Crocodile meat parts stands on display on Huangsha Seafood Market in Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China, 20 January 2018. Tsukiji Market of China or Huangsha Seafood Market is biggest one in Southern China and one of the biggest in China, as there are literally hundreds of different varieties of fish and seafood scattered throughout the market. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)

A boy plays with pelicans in Yoff, commune of Dakar, Senegal March 14, 2018. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

A traffic police officer directs vehicles at a street junction during sunset in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, August 25, 2016. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

Baby giraffe of Niger (Giraffa Camelopardalis) “Kenai” (R), born on August 25, 2016, kisses his mother “Dioni” on August 31, 2016 at the zoo of La Fleche, northwestern France. (Photo by Jean-Francois Monier/AFP Photo)

Highly commended birds : Crested guan by Tim Hunt (UK). ‘This photo shows a crested guan in the cloud forests of Costa Rica as it pauses while foraging on a lone branch. Due to the clouds that are so typical for this habitat, I could often only photograph the bird’s silhouette against a grey sky. But then, for a short moment only, the sun broke through the clouds, and I overexposed the image by over two stops in order to blow out the background and allow this beautifully marked bird to stand out’. (Photo by Tim Hunt/GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

This photo taken November 10, 2015 shows homeless street children sleeping in a park in Manila. The Philippines has swept 20,000 homeless from the streets, cancelled hundreds of flights and declared public holidays in Manila to ensure a safe and efficient summit of 21 world leaders next week, officials say. (Photo by Jay Directo/AFP Photo)