Residents wrapped in blankets watch flames engulf bamboo scaffolding at Wang Fuk Court housing estate after a major fire broke out, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, on November 26, 2025. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

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 hostage runs towards a police officer outside Lindt cafe, where other hostages are being held, in Martin Place in central Sydney December 15, 2014. Two more hostages have run out of the cafe at the center of a siege in Sydney, Australia's largest city, according to a Reuters witness at the site. The two women were both wearing aprons indicating they were staff at the Lindt cafe where a gunman has been holding an unknown number of hostages for several hours. Three men had earlier run out of the cafe. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

A man carries an injured woman in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria January 9, 2016. At least 70 people died in what activists said where four vacuum bombs dropped by the Russian air force in the town of Maaret al-Numan; other air strikes where also carried out in the towns of Saraqib, Khan Sheikhoun and Maar Dabseh, in Idlib. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)

“A Balinese man shows off his pride and joy, a fighting cock, while on a cigarette break after a morning’s work in nearby fields”. (Photo by Coltrane Koh/The Guardian)

“The Wii U is an upcoming home video game console by Nintendo, and the direct successor to the Wii. The system is expected to be released in 2012 and was unveiled during Nintendo's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 on June 7, 2011. The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to produce 1080p high-definition graphics, and features a new controller with an embedded touchscreen. The controller allows a player to continue a gaming session by displaying the game even when the television is off. The system will be fully backwards compatible with Wii, and Wii U games can support compatibility with Wii peripherals, such as the Wii Remote and Wii Balance Board”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The new Nintendo game console Wii U is displayed at the Nintendo booth during the Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 7, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The Wii U will have HD graphics, a controller with a 6.2 inch touchscreen and be compatible with all other Wii accessories. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

“The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. Newborn pups weigh around 11 kilograms (24 lb) and are 80–85 centimetres (31–33 in) long. After birth, the mother only feeds that pup. During the 12 day nursing period, the mother does not eat, losing up to 3 kilograms (7 lb) per day. Harp seal milk contains up to 48% fat, so pups gain over 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb) per day. During this time, the juvenile's “greycoat” grows in beneath the white neonatal coat, and it weighs 80 pounds (36 kg)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A harp seal pup lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence March 24, 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 11: Sculptor Oleg Bessonov creates a rosette from clay at the Schlossbauhuette studio where a team of sculptors is creating decorative elements for the facade of the Berliner Schloss city palace on November 11, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The Berliner Schloss was the residence of the Prussian Kaiser and was among the major architectural landmarks of Berlin until it was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1945. The communist authorities of East Berlin demolished the building in the 1950s, and today's Berlin government is pursuing an ambitious project to rebuild the palace according to a design by Italian architect Franco Stella, which will recreate the facade of the building but with a modern interior at a cost of approximately EUR 590 million. The Humboldt Forum, the foundation leading the project, has given the Schlossbauhuette sculptors the formidable task of recreating the hundreds of architectural elements that decorated the facade, and though some original pieces were saved, more often the sculptors have only old black and white photos as reference. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)