A child points a water pistol at a statue of Russian President Vladimir Putin riding a tank by French artist James Colomina in a playground in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., August 2, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

The drag troupe Dabber Dolls, arriving in Glasgow Central station on September 21, 2022 for their first tour of Mecca Bingo halls, are joined by a Scottish fan. (Photo by Robert Perry/The Guardian)

Women in Pathein, Myanmar, construct in the last decade of August 2024 parasols that they will paint in vibrant colours to sell in nearby markets. (Photo by Nantapon Pattamakijsakul/Solent News)

Elle & The Pocket Belles on day three of the Qatar Goodwood Festival 2022 at Goodwood Racecourse, Chichester on Thursday July 28, 2022. (Photo by Steven Paston/PA Wire)

A fox cub with some bluebells in some woodland at Wye Valley near Gloucester, United Kingdom on April 29, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Winstone/Picture Exclusive)

Wendy Adriaens, owner of animal rescue farm “De Passiehoeve” and nicknamed the Ostrich Whisperer, poses for a photo with three-year-old male ostrich Flodder, in Kalmthout, Belgium, 25 July 2022. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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 woman is helped out of the wrecked car of a train that derailed at the station of Pioltello Limito, on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, Thursday, January 25, 2018. Italian officials said that the commuter train derailed in northern Italy, killing some people, seriously injuring 10 and trapping others heading into Milan at the start of the work day. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)