Credit: Jacob Harris
In the last 60,000 years, humans have emerged as an ecologically dominant species and have successfully colonized every terrestrial habitat. Our evolutionary success has been facilitated by a heavy reliance on an ever-advancing technology. Understanding how human technology evolves is crucial to understanding why humans have enjoyed such unprecedented evolutionary success.
ASU doctoral graduate Jacob Harris, working with ASU researcher Robert Boyd and Brian Wood from the University of California Las Angeles and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, are interested in the role of causal knowledge in the manufacture, transmission, and ultimately, the evolution of technology. Causal knowledge is the ability to predict the effect of an intentional modification of a system, like the design and manufacture of traditional bow-and-arrow technology the focus of their investigation.
In a new study led by ASU Assistant Professor Chuan Liao, researchers looked at what drives large-scale land acquisitions and how the implementation of large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural development affects carbon emissions, and in turn, climate change.
Cutting-Edge Academic Building Tops Out in Arizona
McCarthy Building Cos. broke ground on the $192 million research facility at ASU in January 2019. Dec182020
Image courtesy of McCarthy Building Cos.
McCarthy Building Cos. has topped out Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 7, a roughly 281,000-square-foot research facility underway at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz. The construction company broke ground on the $192 million project in January 2019 and expects to complete it by December 2021.
Located on the southwest corner of University Drive and Rural Road near the 350-acre Novus Innovation Corridor, ISTB 7 will serve as a new gateway to ASU’s Tempe campus. Designed by Grimshaw Architects and Architekton to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the five-story building will encompass wet and dry laboratory space, a 389-seat conference and education center with a presentation hall, university classrooms and office spaces. The dry laborator