Lab notes: never mind the Brexit ​- we've got some other stars for you to gaze at​ ​

It’s been a rough week, but there’s more than enough exciting science to go round! Composite: Various

This week’s biggest stories

It’s still big news, and we’ll get it out of the way quickly, I promise, but worryingly, Brexit might already be causing problems for the UK’s scientists, who are at risk of being excluded from EU research projects before exit negotiations have even begun. Science minister Jo Johnson has raised concerns with the EU science commissioner, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on things as events unfold. In a happier vein, an intriguing archaeoastronomy discovery indicates that entry corridors to 6,000-year-old tombs may have been used as a form of ancient telescope in Portugal. Less cheery, but still fascinating, is the historical study published this week by two Cambridge scientists. They’ve delved back into the records of anatomy collections to find out the true story behind much-treasured 18th and 19th century infant and baby specimens. The scientists uncovered heartbreaking stories of infanticide, stillbirth and poverty which nevertheless helped to make huge advances in science and medicine.

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Straight from the lab - top picks from our experts on the blog network

Hermit crabs use certain molecules to track down new shells. With changes to ocean pH, their ability to do this is is compromised. Photograph: Alamy

Thanks to CO2 emissions, the smell of the sea is changing | Notes & Theories

We already know that in these increasingly acid oceans organisms struggle to make shells and that those shells may even start to dissolve (try dropping a seashell into dilute vinegar and see what happens). Meanwhile, organisms from clownfish to snails and crabs start behaving oddly in acidic waters.

Hiking safety: how a dead man’s clothes changed survival advice | The H word

The Royal College of Surgeons set up a Working Party on Accident Prevention and Life Saving in 1961, which considered accidents everywhere – in the home and on the roads as well as in the countryside. One key member was Dr Lewis Griffith Cresswell Evans Pugh – the physiologist who had been crucial to the successful summit of Everest in 1953, and who had also researched ‘thermal stress’ in the Antarctic in the late 1950s. In 1964 the surprising, and apparently inexplicable, death of three young men on the Rover Scout-organised Four Inns Walk in the Peak District led Pugh into an important semi-forensic investigation into weather, clothes, and risk.

Say Why To Drugs: unravelling the myster-E of MDMA | Sifting the evidence

Experiments are ongoing trying to use low doses of MDMA during therapy sessions to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder talk about their trauma in an environment that doesn’t trigger their panic. Because the intoxication effects of MDMA can make an individual feel safe, connected with those around them, and motivated, it may aid the treatment of PTSD, which is notoriously hard, as often talking about the traumatic event can trigger a panic response.

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Science Weekly podcast

IBM’s Watson robot. Should machines have a concrete Mr Spock-like regard for logic or are there times when the best decision is a more human one? Photograph: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images

Ian Sample takes a look at the future of machines - not the dystopian nightmares of science fiction but the real challenges and big wins that might come with ever-smarter robots. But do we want them to be like us?

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Eye on science - this week’s top pictures

Forget politics: look at these husky puppies! Photograph: Richard Rayner/NNP/Blue Cross/PA

This month’s Zoo news gallery is out! A collection of zoological wonders from June 2016, featuring the origins of dogs, shocking eels, a Godzilla fish and more, courtesy of Animal magic blogger Henry Nicholls.