A Salvadoran clown is seen wearing colorful clothes and face make-up during the parade within the framework of the National Salvadoran Clown Day that is celebrated on the first Wednesday of every December by legislative decree in San Salvador, El Salvador on December 07, 2022. After the pandemic crisis, dozens of Salvadoran clowns took to the streets to celebrate their day, and invite families to respect the work of bringing smiles to children and adults in El Salvador. (Photo by Alex Pena/Anadolu Agency 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)

RAF volunteers from stations across the UK, who will be acting as the lining party during the Royal Wedding, practice drills in the Parade square at RAF Holton on April 26, 2011 in Aylesbury, England. The members will make up the Queen's Colour Squadron, and will be lining the route between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey during the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

In this February 26, 1962 file photo, Mercury astronaut John Glenn, and his wife, Annie, ride in the back of an open car with Vice-President Johnson during a parade in Glenn's honor in Washington. The Capitol is seen in the background. Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth who later spent 24 years representing Ohio in the Senate, died Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, at the age of 95. (Photo by AP Photo)

Photographer and editor with Reuters for 22 years, Andrew Winning has died of brain cancer at the age of 49. Here: Elite special police run for cover after gunfire was heard from inside the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, January 27, 1997. At the moment the shots were fired, police were parading past the residence in a show of force, and helicopters were flying above. Earlier, several armored personnel carriers rolled past the compound. Tupac Amaru rebels had seized the diplomatic compound December 17 and held 72 hostages. (Photo by Andrew Winning/Reuters)

Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi (C) waves at fans as she is driven through the streets of Johannesburg during her homecoming parade after being crowned in December 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa, 13 February 2020. Zozibini is the first black women to win the title. Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the United States-based Miss Universe Organization. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

Residents display scarecrows with an NHS theme outside their homes in Greenfield for the annual scarecrow parade on April 09, 2020 in Manchester, United Kingdom. There have been around 60,000 reported cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the United Kingdom and 7,000 deaths. The country is in its third week of lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

A migratory bird picks her food as army soldiers are reflected in a fountain during rehearsals for the upcoming Republic Day parade at the Raisina hills, the government seat of power, in New Delhi, India, Monday, January 18, 2021. India celebrates Republic Day on Jan. 26, highlighted by a march past by different branches of the military as well as a display of arms and missiles. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)