Reality-distorting beauty filters and the US mineral boom

The Bold Glamor beauty filter on TikTok has been used more than 16 million times since its release last month. It contours your cheekbone and jawline in a clean yet subtle line. Plus, it lifts your eyebrows, applies shimmer to your eyelids, and gives you thick, long, black eyelashes.

Do you think this does not concern you? Think again. What is really amazing with this filter is how well it works: the results are ultra-realistic. It’s just the latest example of how it’s getting harder and harder to tell what’s real from what’s not. Read the full story.

—Tate Ryan-Mosley

Tate’s story is taken from The Technocrat, its new weekly newsletter covering politics, power and Silicon Valley. Register to receive it in your inbox every Friday.

America’s mining industries are booming. Here’s why.

A recent series of sweeping US laws has sparked a boom in proposals for new mining operations, mineral processing facilities and battery factories, laying the groundwork for national supply chains that could support rapid growth in electric vehicles. and other clean technologies.

But some experts worry that the laws’ requirements are so stringent that they could have the unintended effect of slowing the shift to cleaner technologies.

David Turk, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy, spoke with MIT Technology Review about what a mining resurgence means in the United States, why developing supply chains is crucial, and how the Biden administration is s tries to find the right balance between the concerns that arise from it. Read the full story.

—James Temple