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Tower of Babel in Arches National Park A row of hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. Contained within the park is Bryce Canyon. Despite its name, this is not actually a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to its unique geological structures, called hoodoos, formed from wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lake-bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views. The canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1875. The area around Bryce Canyon became a United States national monument in 1924 and was designated as a national park in 1928. Kim Peek (born November 11, 1951) is an individual diagnosed with Savant Syndrome with a photographic or eidetic memory and developmental disabilities, resulting from congenital brain abnormalities. He was the inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbit, played by Dustin Hoffman, in the movie Rain Man. Kim Peek was born with macrocephaly, damage to the cerebellum, and, most importantly, agenesis of the corpus callosum, a condition in which the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain is missing; in Peek's case, secondary connectors such as the anterior commissure are also missing. There is speculation that his neurons make other connections in the absence of a corpus callosum, which results in an increased memory capacity. According to Peek's father, Fran, Peek was able to memorize things from the age of 16-20 months. He read books, memorized them, and then placed them upside down on the shelf to show that he had finished reading them, a practice he still maintains. He reads a page of text in about 10 seconds (about a book per hour) and, apparently, remembers everything he has read, memorizing vast amounts of information in subjects ranging from history and literature, geography, and numbers, to sports, music, and dates. He can recall some 12,000 books from memory. Peek can also do formidable calculations in his head, a skill that serves him well in his day job, where he prepares payroll worksheets. ...that the surface at Rice-Eccles Stadium (pictured) is FieldTurf? ...that the Uinta Mountains are unusual for a mountain range because they run east to west? ...that Paul D. Boyer (born in Provo, Utah) is one of the laureates for the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry? Template:/box-header More anniversaries... Wikinews Utah portal March 27: Utah reinstates firing squad for death penalty February 14: University of Utah study finds suicide may be linked to air pollution February 20: Slovak Henrieta Farkašová wins downhill event at 2013 IPC Alpine World Championships February 16: 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships preparations underway August 5: On the campaign trail, July 2012 June 30: Fred Karger officially ends 2012 presidential campaign June 23: One Australian male and female archer qualify for Olympics after Ogden event April 28: Wikinews interviews Fred Karger, U.S. Republican Party presidential candidate March 15: Rocky Anderson announces he will seek Americans Elect nomination December 21: Wikinews interviews former Salt Lake City mayor and 2012 presidential candidate Rocky AndersonTemplate:/box-footer The boundaries of the provisional State of Deseret as proposed in 1849 are shown in orange. The area of the Utah Territory as organized in 1859 is shaded in red. Template:/box-header {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Utah/to do}} Template:/box-footer Utah-related lists Education Colleges and universities High schools School districts Geography Bouldering sites Historic places Rivers State parks Government Cities and towns Counties Governors State Legislatures Media Newspapers Radio stations Salt Lake City media Television stations People Individuals executed People Transportation Airports Railroads State highways Template:/box-footer What are portals? List of portals Featured portals