We don't have spacecraft to take us outside our solar system but astronomers have still been able to develop a good understanding of how our solar system formed and in turn, how others formed. In the last dozen years, the nearly 300 exoplanets have been discovered have added to our knowledge base.

Conventional knowledge said most solar systems were like our own but three Northwestern University researchers questioned that assumption and explored the question in detail. What they learned is that the solar system in which the Earth orbits our sun is actually uncommon.

Edward Thommes, Soko Matsumura and Frederic Rasio were the first to develop large-scale, sophisticated computer simulations to model the formation of planetary systems from beginning to end. Because of computing limitations, earlier models provided only brief glimpses of the process. The findings of their study titled, "Gas Disks to Gas Giants: Simulating the Birth of Planetary Systems," are detailed in the August 8, 2008 issue of Science magazine.

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High levels of testosterone may be a key factor in spreading disease among mice, according to biologists. The findings could help explain why males in a population are often more likely to get infected, and transmit disease.

Previous research has linked testosterone, the male sex hormone, to immune system suppression. Studies have shown that males, compared to females, experience more bouts of disease, and account for a larger share of disease transmission. However, it is not fully clear what makes males such super-spreaders of disease.

South Africans don't use bug zappers or commercial flypaper to ward off pesky flies, but instead hang up a bunch of Roridula gorgonias leaves.

Attracted to the shiny adhesive droplets on the leaf's hairs, the flies are soon trapped by this 'natural flypaper.' But R. gorgonias plant is also home to a population of Pameridea roridulae (mirid bugs), which dine on the trapped insects and the mirid bugs never get stuck.

Curious to find out how that works, Dagmar Voigt and Stanislav Gorb from the Max-Planck Institute for Metals Research, Germany, decided to take a look at the non-stick bugs to see how they elude R. gorgonias' grasp and they published their results in The Journal of Experimental Biology on August 8 2008.

They were able to call on R.

Scientists have unravelled a potential mechanism for how top-level rowers develop enlarged strengthened hearts as a result of long-term intensive training.

The research in the August edition of Clinical Endocrinology suggests a causal link between naturally occurring hormone levels and strengthening of the heart muscle in professional rowers. Elite rowers were found to have higher levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) compared to healthy sedentary volunteers. In these athletes, IGF-1 values correlate with enlargement and strengthening of heart muscle cells.

IGF-1 is a hormone that is produced by the liver in response to growth hormone stimulation.

Many sports teams select their uniforms based on the mascot, city or country they are representing and not on a referee’s preference or bias but a new study has found that choosing the color red for a uniform in competitive sports can actually affect the referee’s split-second decision-making ability and even promote a scoring bias.

Psychologists Norbert Hagemann, Bernd Strauss and Jan Leiβing from the University of Münster specifically found that referees tended to assign more points to TaeKwon Do competitors dressed in red than those dressed in blue. The researchers presented 42 experienced tae kwon do referees with videos of blue- and red-clad competitors sparring. The two sets of clips were identical except that the colors were reversed in the second set, making the red athlete appear to be wearing blue and vice versa. The referees were then asked to score the performance of each competitor, red or blue, after each video.

MEXICO CITY, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Pivotal Study of Norvir Tablet Bioavailability Will Form the Basis of Request for Priority Regulatory Review

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) presented pivotal data at the XVII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) in Mexico City today showing that its investigational Norvir(R) (ritonavir) tablet and the current soft-gelatin capsule provide similar levels of drug in the blood.

The heat-stable Norvir tablet will not require refrigeration, making it more convenient for patients to use, particularly in developing countries where the majority of people with HIV live.

WARSAW, Poland, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Changes Will Further Enhance Client Services and Capabilities at Central Europe's Largest Commercial Printer

- Polish Operations to be Rebranded QuadWinkowski

To better serve magazine publishers, catalogers and retailers throughout Poland and Europe, U.S.-based Quad/Graphics and Poland-based Winkowski have augmented company leadership and committed to capital investments totaling 35 million USD (72 million PLN) at Winkowski.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080806/AQW513LOGO)

Further, now that Quad/Graphics has a majority ownership in Winkowski (since December 2007), the company will be rebranded QuadWinkowski to reflect the combined resources of the two companies.

If you have £21,250 (about $41,000) but only 15 days until your PhD dissertation is due, Oxbridge Essays LLC will custom-write Your Exact Question for you—with an upper 1st class degree GUARANTEED. Just need something smaller, like a literature review? Yeah, they do those too. For students interested in using this service, it is up to you to “thoroughly examine...the particular rules, regulations and provisions” to check whether your school allows you to use services like Oxbridge Essays. The site offers their services to students all over the world, but since it is UK based, I took the liberty of contacting each of the Top 10 Universities in the UK to see whether they permit the "employment of services" such as those offered by Oxbridge Essays LLP.

DALLAS, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- CONNECTIONS(TM) Europe Summit focuses on entertainment and multimedia services in European markets

Rapid growth in home networking, approaching 168 million households worldwide in 2008, is laying the foundation for expansion of multimedia services internationally and especially in the European markets, according to Parks Associates.

The market research firm will host CONNECTIONS(TM) Europe Summit on August 29, 2008, at the Kempinski Hotel Bristol Berlin, to discuss the implications of this market growth and share the latest findings of its Global Digital Living(TM) (GDL) project.

CHICAGO, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Townsend Analytics (http://www.townsendanalytics.com), a leading provider of global multi-broker, cross-asset electronic trading solutions, today announced its connection to Morgan Stanley's Electronic Trading (MSET) platform. The arrangement allows clients to access MSET services through Townsend Analytics' flagship EMS, RealTick(R).