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)

The barren landscapes of the south-western US provided inspiration for photographer David Clapp. He visited Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona as part of his project on other-worldy locations, with surreal results. Here: An infrared image at dusk of strange clay rock formations in Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness in Farmington, New Mexico. (Photo by David Clapp/Barcroft Images)

Olaf Niess catches swans on the river Alster near the town hall in Hamburg, Germany, 17 November 2015. The Alster swans are moving to their ice-free winter quarters on the Eppendorf Muehlenteich millpond until spring. (Photo by Bodo Marks/EPA)

Kathleen Darling, wife of disabled veteran Caleb Darling, celebrates a shot during a sled hockey game on March 29, 2012 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Students from St Andrews University are covered in foam as they take part in the traditional “Raisin Weekend” in the Lower College Lawn, at St Andrews in Scotland, Britain October 17, 2016. The weekend, which begins on Sunday, involves rituals for new students, culminating in a foam fight on Monday morning. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

An elephant sprays tourists with water in celebration of the Songkran Water Festival in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok, Thailand April 11, 2017. Trained elephants sprayed motorists and passers-by with water in Thailand's old capital city of Ayutthaya on Tuesday to welcome in the Buddhist New Year, known as “Songkran”. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

A sommelier serves the glass with 2021 Beaujolais Nouveau wine of a young woman bathing in a red colored hot water bath, on the day of the Beaujolais Nouveau official release, at Hakone Kowakien Yunessun hot spring resort in Hakone, Japan, 18 November 2021. Japan is a major market for the Beaujolais Nouveau. However, the country's total Beaujolais Nouveau imports are expected to fall by 20 per cent from 2019 to around 3,6 million bottles, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)