Utah

I've frequently written about bogus stem cell clinics that use hard sell techniques to sell unproven and expensive "stem cell treatments" to desperate patients. For instance, I deconstructed the story claiming that hockey great Gordie Howe improved so markedly after a severe stroke, thanks to stem cells offered to him for free (because of his celebrity) by a dubious stem cell company (Stemedica) through its Mexican partner (Clínica Santa Clarita). The whole incident basically opened my eyes to just how unethical the for-profit stem cell clinic industry is, as clinics use hard sell techniques…
Rock formations near the "Natural Bridge" turnout in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah..
A toe bone from a Cretaceous ornithischian dinosaur, just laying on the ground. Photographed at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
Photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Photographed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
A golden-mantled ground squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis), photographed in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Sunrise, photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
A Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
A twisted tree situated along a trail at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
A female pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Sunrise Point at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
A Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), photographed in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
A golden-mantled ground squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis), photographed in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Just a few of the many hoodoos which can be seen in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
Grosvenor Arch, photographed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
A male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), resting in the tall grass. Photographed on Antelope Island, Utah.
Utah may seem like an odd place to search for primates, but you can find them if you know where to look. Although scrubby and arid today, between 46-42 million years ago what is now the northeastern part of the state was a lush forest which was home to a variety of peculiar fossil primates. Called omomyids, these relatives of living tarsiers are primarily known from teeth and associated bits and pieces of bone, but newly discovered postcranial remains may provide paleontologists with a better idea of how some of these ancient primates moved. For most of their early evolution omomyids were…