New Haven, Conn. — Our solar system is a smashing success.

A new study suggests that from its earliest period — even before the last of its nebular gas had been consumed — Earth’s solar system and its planets looked more like a bin of well-used LEGO blocks than slowly-evolving spheres of untouched elements and minerals.

“Far from being made of pristine material, planets — including Earth — were built from recycled fragments of shattered and rebuilt bodies,” said Damanveer Singh Grewal, an assistant professor of Earth and planetary science in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and first author of a new study in the journal Science Advances. “Our research paints a clearer picture of the violent origins of our solar system.”

As the study of the universe evolves and the data sets get larger and more complex, a new breakthrough means researchers can analyze huge data sets with just a laptop and a few hours.