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 pigeon eating cherries in Bydgoszcz, Poland on September 14, 2018. The pigeon was captured at dinnertime, as he was caught on camera with its mouth full of a cherry. (Photo by Piotr Grny/Caters News Agency)

Cape fox cubs play fight in the last decade of May 2025 in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa, their silver and yellow fur camouflaging them in the desert. (Photo by John Mullineux/Solent News & Photo Agency)

“Danger in the mud” – a crocodile at Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. The grand prize winner. (Photo by Jens Cullmann/World Nature Photography Awards 2022)

A golden pheasant is seen at Hangzhou Safari Park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, November 13, 2016. According to local media, the pheasant gains popularity as its golden feathers resemble the hairstyle of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A cat is presented during “The "3rd International Pursaklar Cat Beauty Fest”, on October 14, 2018 in Ankara. (Photo by Adem Altan/AFP Photo)

A young baboon receives an earful from an adult as another primate yanks its tail at Kruger National Park, South Africa in the first decade of July 2024. (Photo by John Mullineux/Solent News)

Weddell seal numbers in 2025 have declined sharply on Signy Island, part of the South Orkney Islands in the Southern Ocean, where British Antarctic Survey researchers have tracked seal populations for nearly 50 years to understand the impact of melting sea ice. (Photo by Michael Dunn/The Times)