The Weirdest Solar System We’ve Found So Far? You May Be In It

Some simulations of solar system formation suggest that Jupiter had an outsized influence on the development of the inner planets, for better and for worse. Early in our history, its gravity might have flung ice-bearing comets in our direction, helping fill future oceans. Later, the same tendency of Jupiter to throw its weight around might have helped hurl destructive monsters our way — for instance, the miles-wide rocky chunk that did in the dinosaurs.