Dorothy Ballarini, character and creature artist, 3D modeling, Brazilian artist, Jurassic World, La Petite Sirène, Blanche-Neige, DNEG, Cinesite, MPC, Framestore --- In the shadows of the vibrant Brazilian landscape, where dreams intertwine with the pain of reality, a quiet artist breathes life into the depths of imagination. Dorothy Ballarini, a name that resonates with both magic and...

The successor to Nintendo's massively popular console appears to have bolted out of the gate.

Start SlideshowStart SlideshowImage: Paramount / Konami / Ocean / KotakuApparently there’s a new Mission: Impossible movie coming out soon. But what there isn’t is a new Mission: Impossible video game, and we’d like to hear someone explain why not. It’s outrageous. The 1960s TV show has games. The first of Cruise’s movies, 1996's Mission: Impossible, has a game. (No Tom Cruise likeness in the game, though.) Why aren’t I playing the Just Cause-like gamedo exist, and wonder quietly to ourselves if that was actually a good idea.Previous SlideNext Slide2 / 12List slidesMission Impossible (1979)List slidesMission Impossible (1979)HighretrogamelordThe very first Mission: Impossible video game, albeit an unofficial one, came out in 1979. And no, that’s not a typo. Scott Adams (no, thank god, not the Dilbert one) and Irene Adams made a series of text adventures after being inspired by Scott’s colleagues who created the seminal Colossal Cave Adventure in 1976. Widely considered to be a joint founders of the entire genre, the Adamses made a series of text adventure games (what you kids now call Interactive Fiction) for the TRS-80 in the late ‘70s, one of which was originally called Mission Impossible (without the distinctive colon that’s officially in the title of the TV shows and movies).Things were a bit of a wild west back then, given that there wasn’t really a vast home gaming industry. The game featured a spy called Phelps after the main character of the original show, who begins sat in front of a tape recorder containing a message that begins much like those on the show often did. “Good morning Mr. Phelps. Your Mission (should you decide to accept it) is to prevent this automated nuclear reactor from being destroyed by a saboteur’s TIME BOMB!” Perhaps it’s not surprising that the owners of the TV show threatened legal action.This led to all manner of names ending up attached to the game, the most common being Secret Mission, which was added to the already-printed boxes via a cheaply produced gold sticker. It’s something of a joy that one of the first ever popular text adventures should be such a brazen rip-off.Previous SlideNext Slide3 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1990)List slidesMission: Impossible (1990)SNES drunkTempting as it is to include the fantastic Impossible Mission platform/puzzle games of the 1980s in this list, they don’t really count, though they do still feature the greatest somersaults in gaming history. So instead we jump forward to 1990, when the Nintendo Entertainment System was blessed with a game based on the short-lived 1988 reboot of the TV series. This time we have an officially licensed game, developed by Konami, that was released just in time to mark the TV version’s cancellation after just 35 episodes. (The original 60s/70s Mission: Impossible ran for 171 episodes, with Leonard Nimoy appearing in 49 of them.) The IMF team is tasked with rescuing Jane Badler’s character, Shannon Reed, along with “Dr. O,” an IMF scientist, all through the magic of top-down 1990 action.You could switch between three characters, Max Harte, Grant Collier and Nicholas Black, each with their own skills as they charged through Venice, Switzerland, and all those good Eurozone adventure locations. Previous SlideNext Slide4 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1991)List slidesMission: Impossible (1991)Mission: Impossible gameplay (PC Game, 1991)It’s a year later, and there’s a second licensed game from the franchise! But this time, it’s a graphic adventure! This time published by Konami but developed by Distinctive Software, makers of many a TV/movie tie-in game, this was very much an attempt to muscle in on Sierra’s territory, complete with a near lift of Sierra’s distinctive row of interaction options across the top of the screen.It was then made more complicated by playing in real-time, with four characters to control at once as you tracked down terrorists, bugged phones and infiltrated enemy HQs. Only Jim Phelps appears to have made it over from the TV shows, however, with new characters to chose from, including the extraordinarily spelt “Rodger.”What’s so surprising about this game is that I’d simply never heard of it, despite being 14 years old at the time of its release and playing every graphic adventure I could get my hands on. However, its midi rendition of the theme tune really should have made it an all-time classic. Previous SlideNext Slide5 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1998)List slidesMission: Impossible (1998)N64 ArchiveSlipping subtly past Micro Games of America’s 1996 dedicated handheld game based on the series, we next find the spies appearing in video games in 1998, with the Tom Cruise era of Mission: Impossible now underway. And it’s on N64 (and a year later, PlayStation). Sometimes known as Mission: Impossible - Expect the Impossible, this console game was intended to be a tie-in with the first of the Cruise-led movies. Except, keen chronologers will note, 1998 was two years after 1996.This was originally supposed to be created by Ocean, a studio famous for its movie-based games. Think RoboCop, Platoon, Total Recall, and Lethal Weapon, all improbably realized as side-scrolling action games. That wasn’t the plan this time, however—ambitions were far higher. Mission: Impossible was an attempt to create something in the style of Rare’s GoldenEye 007, and, well, it wasn’t going great.After three years in development, and the slow realization that the N64 wasn’t powerful enough for their plans, Ocean was bought by Infogrames in 1997, and a whole new team was assigned to the project. Apparently at that time, the game was running at four frames per second. Things were made harder by Viacom, owners of the film rights, refusing to let the game feature too much gun-based violence, and Tom Cruise refusing to allow his face to be in games The new team wound up crunching for months.Yet, despite all this, it went on to sell over a million copies, even though its reviews weren’t exactly great. A late ‘90s IGN went as low as a 6.6, which was about as a low a score as the site back then would give. Previous SlideNext Slide6 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible (1999)List slidesMission: Impossible (1999)CGRundertowIt was four long years between Brian de Palma’s original Tom Cruise movie and John Woo’s somewhat unlikely follow-up. So it was that as late as 1999, the Game Boy Color’s Mission: Impossible game was still based on that first film. But this time it was as all movie-based games should be: an isometric action game. Incredibly, this belated tie-in was the work of developer Rebellion, who that same year brought us the landmark Alien Versus Predator on PC, and are now best known for an infinite number of Sniper Elite games (as well as this year’s Atomfall). There were all sorts of ambitious ideas, including an entirely game-irrelevant Agent Action Kit that let you use your GBC as a calculator, address book, and a notebook that could print stuff out on your Game Boy Printer. Sadly, none of these were part of the game itself, which was deeply mediocre.Previous SlideNext Slide7 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - Game Boy Advance)List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - Game Boy Advance)LongplayArchiveMission: Impossible - Operation Surma came out in 2003 on PS2, alongside a very different and much worse version on Game Boy Advance. It seems unfair to put them into the same slide, given they’re made by entirely different developers.By this point, Infogrames had begun wearing the ill-fitting skin of the long-dead Atari, and like so many games of the era, had two lots of developers make two versions of a game with the same name. For the GBA, it was M4 Ltd, a small UK developer that seemingly only made GBA games based on existing licenses. So alongside Antz World Sportz and Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winner’s Circle, they also created the handheld incarnation of the movie tie-in.Set between the events of Mission: Impossibles 2 and III, Operation Surma finds our espionaging heroes trying to stop the evil Surma group from releasing a virus called ICEWORM which can disable any type of security system. As you’d expect, you go all over the world in your efforts, although on the GBA version you do this in painfully static 2D, rather than in the PS2 version’s 3D action. This version got an absolute kicking by the press, with Cheat Code Central stating, “I would have had more fun gluing spray-painted macaroni to my ass than playing Mission Impossible: Operation Surma on the GBA.”Previous SlideNext Slide8 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - PS2)List slidesMission: Impossible - Operation Surma (2003 - PS2)LongplayArchiveOK, so this version was far better received, although not exactly widely loved. It was, as you can tell from the video, an entirely different game from the GBA incarnation. (As I say, this was common, but didn’t always end badly. The Tony Hawk GBA games, for instance, were masterpieces.)A third-person action game, it was packed with missions, spy tech, and a big cast of characters. And, rather importantly, it was attempting not to recreate the plot of one of the movies, but rather to bridge the time between the second and third films in the franchise.Developed by Texan team Paradigm Entertainment, who were best known for the N64's Pilotwings 64, it was a perfect example of that most damned gaming territories: fine. It was fine. As 7/10 as a game can be. It tried to do loads, it had excellent ambitions, but it all just fell a little flat without ever being bad.Yet, as Zack laments, it also marked the last console-based attempt to make a Mission: Impossible game. Why? Perhaps enough average-to-bad games had convinced Atari that the license wasn’t proving likely to get results? Or perhaps people were just fed up with Tom Cruise for being such a bloody spoilsport, and not letting his face or voice appear in any of the games. (Incidentally, Ving Rhames and John Polson showed up to voice their characters in Operation Surma!)Previous SlideNext Slide9 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible III (2006)List slidesMission: Impossible III (2006)Gameplays JavaThat’s right, we get near to the end of our round-up of every Mission: Impossible game ever with 2006's Mission: Impossible III, the mobile-only tie-in for the 2006 J.J. Abrams threequel. Created by Gameloft, who have also brought us Disney Dreamlight Valley and Sexy Poker: Top Models (alongside the Asphalt franchise and a billion other mobile IPs), this game was only ever released for phones, as were numerous other licensed Gameloft games of the era.Was it any good? I don’t know! It was released for mobile only in 2006! The game’s in portrait. Pocket Gamer liked it at the time, though, and while Carolyn here on staff hasn’t played it, she’s heard good things about a number of Gameloft’s mobile-only efforts of the era.Previous SlideNext Slide10 / 12List slidesMission: Impossible -The Game (2011)List slidesMission: Impossible -The Game (2011)Mission: Impossible - The GameI don’t think anyone’s ever even heard of this web-only game from developers Funtactix, and having watched the video above, I think that may be for the best.Previous SlideNext Slide11 / 12List slidesMission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)List slidesMission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)Mission Impossible Rogue Nation - Android Gameplay HDGlu Mobile’s 2015 tie-in Rogue Nation looks like a visually impressive gallery shooter, at least. In his brief review of the game for Pocket Gamer, Ric Cowley says all that probably needs to be said about it: “If you stick with it, there’s a perfectly average game in here. But it’s so repetitive that you’ll have seen everything it has to offer in ten minutes.” It’s now been over 20 years since there was a proper Mission: Impossible game for console or PC, despite the movies being such a massive deal. As Zack correctly laments, this is a series ripe for a fantastic video game. It’s somehow never received one. Perhaps making that hypothetical, great Mission: Impossible game is the most impossible mission of all.

Unlike most of her fellow party members, Lune can work equally well as a damage-dealer or a support in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, depending on your preferred playstyle. With the wide range of weapons and accessories in Expedition 33, you might feel like you can turn anyone into anything. A triple tank team? A team designed to shatter damage totals? The sky is the limit with the game’s robust system, but just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. If you’re interested in the best for the barefoot mage, this Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 guide will break down the best Lune build, her best weapons, attributes, and skills to prioritize. Best Lune build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Lune can serve as a DPS unit, but we believe she is much better suited as a support role. This isn’t to say that Lune inferior to the other party members in terms of how much damage she can deal, but instead that her skills and weapon are better suited for a supportive role. A team with a Lune support is much more flexible than other team compositions due to her ability to debuffs enemies and heal allies. In the game’s opening act, you’ll want to improve Lune’s Vitality and Luck attributes to increase her damage and survivability. Any leftover points can be put into Might for extra damage, but survivability is most important. Her best attributes change throughout the game’s runtime from prioritizing luck and health to agility and defense. The best Lune build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is: Attributes: Agility and Defense Weapon: Choralim Skills: Earth Rising, Ice Lance, Immolation, and Electrify Pictos: Empowering Parry, Shortcut, and Charging Critical Like Maelle, in the long run, Lune’s best attributes are Agility and Defense because they scale the best with her strongest weapon, the Choralim. Lune’s gameplay is built around properly managing her Skill Stains and AP. In order to get the best out of her toolkit, you have to make sure you’re actually using the stains accrued. Skills benefiting from a stain will be highlighted, so make sure to make use of your stains. While you’ll want to prioritize skills that provide utility Crippling Tsunami and Hell, once your debuffs are applied you can follow a simple rotation of skills to increase your teams overall DPS. Below, we’ll explain in more detail why this is the best Lune build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Best attributes for Lune Your attribute spread for Lune might look different depending on how far in the game you are. You can use a Recoat to reset your attributes and will likely find multiple Recoats in your average playthrough. In Act 1, prioritize these attributes: Vitality Luck In Act 2, you can begin to prioritize Agility over Luck, as those attributes will work better with the weapon upgrades present throughout Act 2. In the opening hours of Expedition 33, damage is king, since the more quickly you can wrap up a battle, the less you have to worry about defending yourself. The dodge and parry mechanics will become second nature throughout the game, but enemies in the first act doesn’t stand a chance against Lune’s damage potential. The Act 2 attribute spread will suffice until you achieve Esquie’s flying ability. Then you can finally access Lune’s best weapon, Choralim, which scales with Agility and Defense. The stats you’ll receive from those attributes alone will outscale putting points in attributes like Might or Luck. Best weapon for Lune The best weapon for Lune is the Choralim. It’s easy to miss, especially if you aren’t exploring the map and spending time with your party. To find this weapon, you must increase your relationship with Lune to the 6th relationship rank, which you can increase by spending time with her in the camp. Once you do this, Verso will speak of a location close to the colosseum of Sirene. This location is home to an optional boss who happens to drop the weapon. (You may have run into the area, Sirene’s Dress, by accident only to find a door inside that wouldn’t budge. You must raise Lune’s relationship rank to at least 6 to properly interact with it.) The weapon’s strength is in its synergy with certain Pictos. It’s level 10 passive ability works great with Pictos and Luminas that offer multiple turns, and its level 20 passive is great for damage with its synergy with Lune’s multi-hit skills. Whether you follow our guidance or decide to craft your build, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better weapon for Lune than the Choralim. Best Pictos and Luminas for Lune The Pictos and Luminas you want on Lune depends on where you are in game. Broadly speaking, the best Pictos for Lune are Empowering Parry, Shortcut, and Charging Critical. Below is what these Pictos do in full detail such as the stat bonuses they grant as well as the passives they offer. Empowering Parry —  Speed and Critical Rate. Each successful Parry increases damage by 5% until end of the following turn. Taking any damage removes this buff. Shortcut —  Speed and Critical Rate. Immediately play when falling below 30% Health. Once per battle. Charging Critical —  Defense and Critical Rate. 20% of a Gradient Charge on Critical Hit. Once per turn. These Pictos give Lune extra scaling with her best weapon and allows for her to support her team with utility skills and damage over time. With Choralim’s passive granting 100% crit chance you can rapidly farm Gradient Charge and use her Tree of Life Gradient Attack to cleanse all status ailments and heals your allies. With the Shortcut Pictos allowing for a turn when you’re below 30% health, you can save this Gradient Attack for a moment when you need it most and instantly turn the tides of combat. As for Luminas, we recommend using the following, depending on how many Lumina Points you have. Burning Affinity Cheater Confident Fighter Dead Energy II Double Burn Energising Burn Energising Start I Energising Start II Energising Start III Energising Turn First Strike Full Strength Glass Canon Immaculate Inverted Affinity Painted Power Warming Up Tainted Sweet Skill Best skills for Lune The best skills for Lune are the following: Elemental Trick: Deals low single target Ice, Fire, Lightning, and Earth damage. 4 hits. Critical Hits generate the corresponding Stain. Elemental Genesis: Deals extreme damage to all enemies. 8 hits. Each hit deals damage in a random element. Can only be cast with one Lightning, Earth, Fire, and Ice Stain. Rockslide: Deals medium single target Earth damage. 2 hits. Can Break. Consumes one Lightning, Ice, and Fire Stain for greatly increased damage. Lightning Dance: Deals very high single target Lightning damage. 6 hits. Critical Hits trigger an additional hit. Consumes one Earth, Ice, and Fire Stain: Greatly increased damage. Crippling Tsunami: Deals medium Ice damage to all enemies. 1 hit. Applies Slow for 3 turns. Consumes 1 Earth, Lightning, and Fire Stain for greatly increased damage. Hell: Deals very high Fire damage that applies 5 burn per hit to all enemies. 2 hits. Deals self-damage if failed. Consumes one Ice, Earth, and Lightning Stain for greatly increased damage. These skills best take advantage of Lune’s Stain mechanic. You’re going to want to start combat with the Elemental Trick skill to guarantee you have one of each stain. Once you’ve generated your stains you are free to use the corresponding elemental skill to hit enemy weaknesses or cast Elemental Genesis for raw damage. Lune is one of the most versatile characters in the game — she can do anything you need her to.

Published May 21, 2025 10:00am EDT close 'There's no sense of privacy involved': 'CyberGuy' warns AI users' privacy could be at risk Tech expert Kurt Knutsson discusses tips on how to protect your data amid AI privacy concerns and Ford filing a patent to bring the stick shift to electric vehicles.  Removing your personal information from people-search sites can feel pretty overwhelming. There are hundreds of these sites in the U.S. alone. In fact, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says there are over 500 companies that collect and sell personal information. At first, it might seem impossible to get your details removed from all of them. But here's the good news: You don't need to tackle every single site. Your information isn't on all 500-plus sites. With a bit of time and persistence, you can remove your info from the major ones, and every removal really counts. Let me show you exactly how to do it yourself.JOIN THE FREE "CYBERGUY REPORT": GET MY EXPERT TECH TIPS, CRITICAL SECURITY ALERTS AND EXCLUSIVE DEALS, PLUS INSTANT ACCESS TO MY FREE "ULTIMATE SCAM SURVIVAL GUIDE" WHEN YOU SIGN UP! A woman scrolling on her laptop (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)First, find which people-search sites have your infoThe process will be easier if you have a list of people-search sites that have your personal information. Not only can you check them off as you go, but you'll also need a list for the last step. The easiest place to start is with a free scan that some data removal services provide. These scans automatically check a ton of people-search sites for your personal information and send you a report. You can also search for your full name on Google. This will probably bring up a mix of results, including your social media profiles. THINK YOU CAN DELETE YOUR DATA YOURSELF? HERE'S WHY YOU'RE PROBABLY WRONGThe bigger your online presence, the more search results you'll likely have to sift through to find the people-search sites. I recommend searching for your name together with other personal details, like your email, phone number or home address. For some reason, this is more likely to bring up people-search sites, different ones depending on the combination of personal details you try. You may not be able to find all the people-search sites that have your info like this, though. You should also check any state-specific people-search sites, like StateofFlorida.com, and search all of the most popular people-search sites like:WhitepagesSpokeoBeenVerifiedInteliusMyLifePeopleFindersRadarisTruthFinderFastPeopleSearchInstant CheckmateKeep in mind that many smaller or niche sites exist, especially those that are state or region-specific. These sites can be harder to find but may still have your information. Using scanning tools or data removal services can help uncover these less obvious listings.Follow the opt-out process for each siteEvery people-search site has its own opt-out process, but most of them will require you to do something like this:Find your listing: You'll usually need to search for your name, phone number, address or email on the site.Submit a removal request: Most sites have an online form where you can request removal. Look for links that say "Opt-Out," "Do Not Sell My Info" or "Privacy Rights," which are usually found in the website footer.Verify your request: Most sites will send you a confirmation email with a link you'll need to click. Some ask for a phone call verification. A few people-search sites request documents, like a photo ID (I recommend avoiding sending sensitive documents unless absolutely necessary). If a site insists on ID verification, try contacting their support to ask about alternative methods or consider skipping that site if you're uncomfortable.TOP 20 APPS TRACKING YOU EVERY DAYPro tip: Use a separate email address for opt-out requestsMany sites require email verification. Using your regular email can expose it to spam or further data collection. Creating a dedicated or alias email address just for these requests helps protect your primary inbox and keeps things organized. Also, using various email aliases makes it so you don't have to worry about all your info getting taken in a data breach. An email alias address is a great way for you to stop receiving constant spam mail by simply deleting the email alias address. See my review of the best secure and private email services here. A woman working on her laptop (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Phone verification and a secondary number If a site requires phone verification, consider using a secondary number to avoid exposing your personal phone number. Services like Google Voice can provide you with a secondary number that you can use for online activities, keeping your primary number private. The process should take between five and 20 minutes for each site on your list, depending on how difficult they make it for you. But once you submit the request, removal is usually pretty quick. Your information should be off the site within 24 hours to a week, though it can sometimes take up to 30 days.Don't forget about Google search resultsPeople-search sites aren't the only places your info can pop up. Sometimes your personal info appears directly in Google search results, pulled from public records or other sites. If you find sensitive info in Google results, you can request removal through Google's own removal tools, especially if the info includes things like your Social Security number, bank account info or images you don't want to be public. This is a separate process, but it is worth doing alongside removing info from people-search sites. Google Search image (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Keep in mind, this isn't a one-and-done dealEven after you remove your info, there's a good chance it'll show up again. People-search sites constantly scrape public records and other databases to refresh their listings. Some sites offer "suppression lists" you can add your name to, but it's not a perfect system. Small changes, like a slightly different address, a new phone number or a missing middle name, can slip past their filters and pop up as a "new" profile.The best way to stay on top of it is to set a reminder to recheck the main people-search sites every few months and repeat the opt-out process when needed. Maintaining a detailed tracker or spreadsheet with the sites you've contacted, dates and confirmation info can make this easier and help you avoid missing any sites. A woman working on her laptop and scrolling on her phone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)​​A quick note on your rights (updated for 2025)There is still no federal data privacy law in the U.S. that grants everyone the automatic right to opt out of people-search sites. However, the landscape is changing quickly at the state level. As of 2025, at least thirteen states have passed comprehensive privacy laws that give residents stronger opt-out rights, including:California (California Consumer Privacy Act/California Privacy Rights Act - CCPA/CPRA)Virginia (Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act - VCDPA)Colorado (Colorado Privacy Act - CPA)Connecticut (Connecticut Data Privacy Act - CTDPA)Utah (Utah Consumer Privacy Act - UCPA)Delaware (Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act - DPDPA)Iowa (Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act - ICDPA)Nebraska (Nebraska Data Privacy Act - NDPA)New Hampshire (New Hampshire Data Privacy Act - NHDPA)New Jersey (New Jersey Data Privacy Act - NJDPA)Tennessee (Tennessee Information Protection Act - TIPA)Minnesota (Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act - MCDPA)Maryland (Maryland Online Data Privacy Act - MODPA)If you live in one of these states, you now have a much stronger legal footing to demand that people-search sites remove your information. Many of these laws require companies to honor requests to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal data, and some even require businesses to respect browser-based global opt-out signals. But even if you don't live in one of these states, you should still submit removal requests. Most people-search sites do not filter opt-out requests by state; they generally process any request they receive to avoid potential legal issues, regardless of your location.If this sounds like too much work, there's helpRemoving your data manually takes real time and commitment, especially since you have to keep doing it to stay off these sites. That's why many people turn to personal data removal services. Instead of going site by site yourself, a service can automatically send removal requests on your behalf, track the responses and re-request removals if your data reappears later.While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Kurt's key takeawaysManual removal is free and gives you full control, but it takes time and requires ongoing effort. Automated services cost money but save you time, handle rechecks and can catch new listings faster. Choose what best fits your budget and privacy needs. If you follow these steps and stay consistent, you can take back control of your personal information online. It might take some work, but every removal counts toward protecting your privacy.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPDo you think it should be your job to constantly remove your info from people-search sites or should companies and lawmakers be doing more to protect your privacy? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

During an excavation, amidst the Patagonian winds and hard rock, a fossil began to turn green. It was an unexpected reaction: the adhesive applied to protect the bones, fragile after millions of years beneath the ice, had interacted with plant matter trapped in the rock’s cracks. This greenish hue earned the fossil the nickname Fiona, like the ogre from Shrek.But Fionais much more than a ogre-themed name. It is the first complete ichthyosaur ever excavated in Chile and, even more remarkably, the only known pregnant female from the Hauterivian — a stage of the Early Cretaceous dating back 131 million years. Her skeleton, discovered at the edge of the Tyndall Glacier in Torres del Paine National Park — an area increasingly exposed by glacial retreat — belongs to the species Myobradypterygius hauthali, originally described in Argentina from fragmentary remains.The discovery, led by Judith Pardo-Pérez, a researcher at the University of Magallanes and the Cabo de Hornos International Center (CHIC), and published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, offers an unprecedented glimpse into ancient marine life — from how these majestic reptiles reproduced to how they adapted to oceans vastly different from those of today.An Ichthyosaur Maternity Ward in Patagonia(Image Courtesy of Irene Viscor)So far, 88 ichthyosaurs have been found on the Tyndall Glacier. Most of them are adults and newborns. Two key facts stand out: food was abundant, and no other predators were competing with them.Fiona, who measures nearly 13 feet long, is still encased in five blocks of rock. Despite the challenge, she was transported to a local clinic, where CT scans allowed researchers to study her skull and body. Her species was identified thanks to one of her fins. “There’s no other like it in the world,” says Pardo-Pérez. The limbs were remarkably elongated, suggesting this animal was built for long-distance swimming.Inside her, there were more surprises. One of them was her stomach contents, which revealed what may have been her last meal: tiny fish vertebrae. But the most striking find was a fetus, about 20 inches long, already in a position to be born.“We believe these animals came to Magallanes — the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia — from time to time to give birth, because it was a safe refuge,” Pardo-Pérez says. “We don't know how long they stayed, but we do know that mortality was high during the first few days of life.”One of the big unanswered questions is where they went next, as there are no records of Myobradypterygius hauthali, apart from a piece of fin found in Argentina. The most abundant remains come from southern Germany, but those date back to the Jurassic period, meaning they’re older.Palaeontologist Erin Maxwell suggests, “In many modern ecosystems, species migrate to higher latitudes during the summer to take advantage of seasonally abundant resources and then move to lower latitudes in winter to avoid harsh conditions,” she explains. “We believe Mesozoic marine reptiles may have followed similar seasonal patterns.”Sea Dragon GraveyardThe environment where Fiona was discovered — dubbed the "sea dragon graveyard" — also has much to reveal.According to geologist Matthew Malkowski of the University of Texas at Austin, the Hauterivian age is particularly intriguing because it coincided with major planetary changes: the breakup of continents, intense volcanic episodes, and phenomena known as "oceanic anoxic events," during which vast areas of the ocean were depleted of dissolved oxygen for hundreds of thousands of years.One such poorly understood event, the Pharaonic Anoxic Event, occurred around 131 million years ago, near the end of the Hauterivian, and still raises questions about its true impact on marine life. “We don't have a firm grasp of how significant these events were for marine vertebrates, and geological records like that of the Tyndall Glacier allow us to explore the relationship between life, the environment, and Earth’s past conditions,” Malkowski notes.Evolution of IchthyosaursReconstruction of Fiona. (Image Courtesy of Mauricio Álvarez)Don't be misled by their body shape. “Ichthyosaurs are not related to dolphins,” clarifies Pardo-Pérez. Although their hydrodynamic silhouettes may look nearly identical, the former were marine reptiles, while the latter are mammals. This resemblance results from a phenomenon known as convergent evolution: when species from different lineages develop similar anatomical features to adapt to the same environment.Ichthyosaurs evolved from terrestrial reptiles that, in response to ecological and climatic changes, began spending more time in the water until they fully adapted to a marine lifestyle. However, they retained traces of their land-dwelling ancestry, such as a pair of hind flippers — absent in dolphins — passed down from their walking forebears. They lived and thrived in prehistoric oceans for about 180 million years, giving them ample time to refine a highly specialized body: their forelimbs and hindlimbs transformed into flippers; they developed a crescent-shaped tail for propulsion, a dorsal fin for stability, and a streamlined body to reduce drag in the water. Remarkably, like whales and dolphins, “ichthyosaurs had a thick layer of blubber as insulation to maintain a higher body temperature than the surrounding seawater and gave birth to live young, which meant they didn’t need to leave the water to reproduce,” explains Maxwell.Whales and dolphins also descend from land-dwelling ancestors, but their transition happened over a comparatively short evolutionary timespan, especially when measured against the long reign of the ichthyosaurs. “Their evolution hasn't had as much time as that of ichthyosaurs,” notes Pardo-Pérez. “And yet, they look so similar. That’s the wonderful thing about evolution.”Read More: Did a Swimming Reptile Predate the Dinosaurs?Fossils on the Verge of DisappearanceOne of the key factors behind the remarkable preservation of the fossils found in the Tyndall Glacier is the way they were buried. According to Malkowski, Fiona and her contemporaries were either trapped or swiftly covered by underwater landslides and turbidity currents — geological processes that led to their sudden entombment.But the good fortune that protected them for millions of years may now be running out. As the glacier retreats, exposing fossils that were once unreachable, those same remains are now vulnerable to wind, rain, and freeze-thaw cycles, which crack the surrounding rock. As vegetation takes hold, roots accelerate erosion and eventually conceal the fossils once again.“While climate change has allowed these fossils to be studied, continued warming will also eventually lead to their loss,” Maxwell warns. In Fiona’s story, scientists find not only a record of ancient life, but also a warning etched in stone and bone: what time reveals, climate can reclaim.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:María de los Ángeles Orfila is a science journalist based in Montevideo, Uruguay, focusing on long-form storytelling. Her work has appeared in Discover Magazine, Science, National Geographic, among other outlets, and in leading Uruguayan publications such as El País and El Observador. She was a fellow in the 2023 Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program by The Open Notebook and often explores the intersections of science, culture, and Latin American identity.