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 man watches as high surf crashes into the wall and spills onto Channel Drive in Montecito, Calif., January 7, 2016. Bacteria levels can increase significantly during and after rainstorms as contaminants in the runoff enter the ocean via storm drains, creeks and rivers. (Photo by Mike Eliason/AP Photo)

A driver competes in his tractor during the Tractor Pulling Euro Championships in the western German town of Fuechtorf September 9, 2012. Eighty teams from across Europe participated in the two-day competition where high-powered tractor prototypes must pull a trailer down a 100-metre (328 ft) track as far as possible. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)

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)

In this aerial image, debris of the Japanese Imperial Navy fighter A6M “Zero” is seen in the field on August 29, 2016 in Babeldaob Island, Palau. The war was opened up 75 years ago by Imperial Japan against the allied forces, including the United States, by the Pearl Harbour attack on December 7, 1941, claimed more than 2 million lives until Japan's surrender in 1945. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

An indigenous woman holds her child while trying to resist the advance of Amazonas state policemen who were expelling the woman and some 200 other members of the Landless Movement from a privately-owned tract of land on the outskirts of Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, in this March 11, 2008 file photo. (Photo by Luiz Vasconcelos-A Critica/Reuters/AE)

Chris Renshaw has recently been awarded the 2015 Africa Geographic “Photographer of the Year” award. Chris tells that his love “for anything wild and adventurous came from a deep rooted attachment to the African continent. This image shows that timing, a bit of anticipation, and luck allowed this incredible moment in time to be captured”. (Photo by Chris Renshaw)

Heavy monsoon rains cause floods in several parts of Kolkata, West Bengal, India on June 17, 2021. (Photo by Sumit Sanyal/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)