Honor guards are viewed during an official welcoming ceremony for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by Albanian President Bajram Begaj, in Tirana, Albania on October 10, 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was welcomed by Albanian President Bajram Begaj with an official ceremony ahead of their meeting. (Photo by Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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)

Russian artist Maria Gazanova (L) works on her "The Alive Painting" art work during the Art Krasnoyarsk annual festival in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia November 4, 2015. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

This image released by National Geographic shows Katia Krafft wearing an aluminized suit as she stands near lava burst at Krafla Volcano, Iceland, in a scene from the documentary “Fire of Love”. (Photo by National Geographic via AP Photo)

A model has her hair sprayed backstage at the Ukrainian Fashion Week in Kyiv, Ukraine on August 31, 2020. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Pictured on December 9, 2022 during the Friday sunset on Martello beach at Clacton in Essex is some light painting with fire created by spinning fire with a 21-second exposure. (Photo by Kevin Jay/Picture Exclusive)

Scotland fans climbed on English playwright William Shakespeare's statue in Leicester Square prior to the Euro 2020 soccer championship group D match between England and Scotland, in London, Friday, June 18, 2021. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

An Indian Hindu married woman offers prayers during Karva Chauth festival in Jammu, India, Sunday, October 24, 2021. Hindu married women decorate their hands with henna, wear colorful bangles and observe a fast to pray for the longevity and well being of their husbands during this festival. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)