Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab believe that putting deep learning into the analog realm will be the key to both increasing the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and dramatically improving its energy efficiency — and have come up with the hardware required to do exactly that.
“The working mechanism of the device is electrochemical insertion of the smallest ion, the proton, into an insulating oxide to modulate its electronic conductivity,” explains senior author Bilge Yildiz, professor at MIT, of the processor the team has developed. “Because we are working with very thin devices, we could accelerate the motion of this ion by using a strong electric field, and push these ionic devices to the nanosecond operation regime.”
Tiny protonic programmable resistors could drive future AI systems faster and more efficiently than ever before. (📷: Onen et al)
The processor is based on earlier work to develop an analog synapse, but with a significant speed boost: the new version of the device, which is made up of arrays of protonic programmable resistors, operates a million times faster than previous versions — and are 1,000 times smaller than and operate 10,000 times faster than biological synapses like those found in the human brain.
Getting such technology out of the lab is always a challenge, however, but here the team claims to have made a breakthrough: the new device uses materials compatible with standard silicon fabrication techniques, allowing it to be produced in existing fabs and scale down to nanometer process nodes—meaning, in theory, it can be integrated into commercial processors to accelerate deep-learning workloads.
“We have been able to put these pieces together and demonstrate that these devices are intrinsically very fast and operate with reasonable voltages,” says senior author Jesús A. del Alamo, MIT professor. “This work has really put these devices at a point where they now look really promising for future applications.”
The technology has proven itself suitable for neural network workloads, including one trained on the MNIST dataset. (📷: Onen et al)
“Once you have an analog processor,” claims lead author Murat Onen, “you will no longer be training networks everyone else is working on. You will be training networks with unprecedented complexities that no one else can afford to, and therefore vastly outperform them.” In other words, this is not a faster car, this is a spacecraft.”
The team’s work has been published in the journal Science under closed-access terms.
Main article image courtesy of Ella Maru Studio and Murat Onen.
After delving into their partners’ lives during the Life Swap Challenge, the contestants are feeling closer than ever as they head into the final week of Beauty and the Geek.
Our romantic couples come face-to-face with a relationship expert… well, host Sophie Monk, before we bid farewell to a much-loved pair.
Catch up on the latest episodes of Beauty and the Geek on 9Now.
But before we get to that the Beauties and Geeks have an exciting challenge ahead.
The six remaining couples must produce TikTok content for the world’s fastest growing social media platform in a crazy video challenge.
Sophie needs a bit of help with this challenge and brings in one of Australia’s most prominent TikTok stars, Millie Ford. Millie has amassed more than 1.4 million followers and is most recognized for her catchphrase, “Boys at the back.”
Sophie and Millie are confused by some of the TikTok concepts. (Nine)
The Beauties are excited when they catch a glimpse of the TikTok star with Sophie before Millie tells the contestants to have fun with the challenge while being authentic, original and creative. Sounds easy, right?
The team with the best TikTok video win themselves a date, while the bottom two teams face elimination.
With only 10 minutes to come up with a concept and film their video, Millie and Sophie are left scratching their heads with some of the concepts.
Aaron and Karly recreate a scene from The NotebookAnthony and Tegan take a skit from Harry Potter… and we’re not sure what some of the other contestants’ concepts are.
But there is one TikTok that “kind of made sense” and that is Emily and Jason’s.
After surviving the last two eliminations, Emily and Jason finally head out on their long-awaited date. Instead of a Geek organizing things, Emily takes the reins and organizes a fun ice-skating outing for the pair.
After seeing how much of a kind soul Jason is, it opens the Beauty’s eyes to how she should be treated.
Emily then makes an emotional admission about how being bullied during her childhood and previously being in bad relationships led to her struggling with her self-esteem.
Emily opened up about her insecurities while speaking to Jason. (Nine)
“Even though I have this big confidence on the outside, the outside doesn’t always match the inside,” she reveals.
“When I look in the mirror, I see a lot of flaws, and I feel like it’s because my past relationships have really made me feel like I need to look a certain way to be loved.”
The pair feel like they’ve grown closer to each other from this experience, with Jason realizing just how much they have in common.
(Nine)
It would usually be time for a Mixer, but Sophie pulls aside our two romantic couples to help them gain an insight into what their relationship will look like outside the experiment.
It’s feeling a lot like a Married At First Sight Commitment Ceremony with Sophie’s set up. The host-turned-relationship-expert calls her first couple to the couch – Mike and Heidi.
The pair admit they see their relationship continuing on the outside world and gush about how close they’ve become.
Michael and Tara are the next couple to join the session.
Dr. Monk plays a game of ‘Slow’ or ‘Steady’ – much like a MAFS ‘Stay’ or ‘Leave’ situation – where if they write ‘Steady’, it means they want to make their relationship official, and ‘Slow’ is to keep things the way they are.
Michael reveals he was not expecting to find such a connection with someone, and admits he wants to take the next step in their relationship by showing his envelope.
“I met a girl that compliments me in all the best ways, I was not expecting this,” he says.
Michael and Tara made things official during Episode 9. (Nine)
After a nail-biting wait, Tara turns around her envelope and it’s a sigh of relief for Michael as it says ‘Steady’.
Admitting they can clearly see a future together, Tara reveals Michael has made her believe in love again.
“I’ve met a guy who actually made me believe in love again, so that’s pretty special,” Tara says.
Now it’s time for the Mixer, and to find out which two pairs will fight it out to stay in the competition.
Sophie reveals Chris and Bri and Mike and Heidi are the bottom two who will face her elimination quiz.
The first couple to reach five points is saved from being sent home.
In Pictures
All of Sophie Monk’s best looks
Latest frock pays tribute to her wedding day.
ViewGallery
Both couples are neck-in-neck during the intense three-round quiz, and it looks like anyone’s game right up until the end.
But it’s Bri and Chris who manage to steal the final point, which means Mike and Heidi’s journey comes to an end.
There’s not a dry eye in the room as the contestants farewell the Beauty and Geek, who intend to continue their romantic relationship on the outside.
Beauty and the Geek continues Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.Catch up on the latest episodes of Beauty and the Geek on 9Now.
George Russell stole the show Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix by earning his first career pole and first of the season for Mercedes — on the same day F1 champion and current points leader Max Verstappen qualified a season-worst 10th.
Russell screamed in celebration after a fast final qualifying lap helped him beat Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
“Whooooo, come on! And it is! Hahahaha. You beauty! You beauty!” yelled Russell before jumping into the arms of his engineers.
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Pole position qualifier George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Mercedes pace was surprising since Russell claimed Mercedes’ second practice was “disastrous” on Friday, when Russell was about a full second slower than Leclerc’s leading time.
“For us as a team it’s massive. We were all here until 11pm last night scratching our heads, and we all felt pretty lost,” Russell said.
“To come back and grab pole position is an amazing feeling. We absolutely nailed today, 100 per cent.”
Verstappen unleashed expletives as his qualifying bid was undone.
He struggled with grip then complained of having “no power … nothing works” on his second attempt.
“I still don’t know what it is. I need to talk to the team, but I hope everything is fixable,” Verstappen said.
“I know this track is very hard to pass at, so we have to be patient. This year has shown that a lot of things can happen.”
A frustrated Max Verstappen walks away from his F1 car after only qualifying 10th for Red Bull (LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Hungaroring track, nestled amid rolling hills just outside of Budapest, dried out somewhat for afternoon qualifying following a huge downpour during the third practice.
Leclerc — who has seven poles this season — crashed while leading the French GP last Sunday to hand Verstappen a win that gave the Dutchman a 63-point lead over Leclerc in the standings.
But now Leclerc has an ideal chance to close the gap on Sunday on one of F1’s hardest tracks for passing.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez had a disappointing session and starts from 11th place.
“It’s been a bad day,” Perez said. “It’s certainly going to be difficult to overtake tomorrow.”
Lando Norris of McLaren qualified fourth followed by Esteban Ocon — last year’s winner — Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who is F1’s record holder with 103 poles.
George Russell joined Mercedes full-time in 2022 (Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Russell, who replaced Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes this year, landed his seat in part by overperforming for struggling backmarker Williams last year with an incredible performance in the wet to qualify second for the Belgian GP.
“Dare I say better than the Spa one?” Russell said. “This is what racing’s all about. This is why I want to become world champion.”
After a first pole, the British driver is eyeing a first win.
“Hopefully we can drive off into the sunset tomorrow. I’m already thinking of what I can do to win,” he said. “Saturday doesn’t mean a huge amount, Sunday is when the points and prizes are won.”
Russell has what it takes to reach the top, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes.
“This is one of many milestones to come. George is a champion in the making,” Wolff said. “We would never have put him in a Mercedes if he didn’t think he could become a world champion.”
Hamilton had some bad luck as his drag reduction system stuck.
“My DRS stopped working, which was frustrating after all the struggle we had to finally have the chance to fight for front row,” he said. “We didn’t know how strong our pace was and where it came from, so it’s a very positive day for us. Huge congratulations to George, it’s an amazing feeling to get your first pole.”
Sainz called his form “nothing special” and conceded Russell “deserves that pole,” while Leclerc said he “struggled massively in Q3” because “the tires were definitely not in the right window.”
Charles Leclerc (left) and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari after the qualifying for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
At least he has Verstappen where he wants him, seven cars back.
“Max might take a few more laps to come to the front,” Leclerc said.
Drivers had earlier tackled a difficult rain-drenched third practice.
Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel lost the rear tires and went backward into the crash barriers, bringing out a red flag with about 10 minutes to go. The session restarted with four minutes left.
After the intense heat of Friday, rain began thundering down around midday and the Hungaroring was drenched by the 1pm start.
The Ferraris were the first to go out and Leclerc slid as he missed a chicane.
As rain got even heavier and visibility worsened, Vettel — who is retiring at the end of the season — missed a turn and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly just avoided a crash barrier then later did a 360 spin.
Russell said he was “struggling a lot,” Ricciardo spoke of having “absolutely no grip” and Haas driver Mick Schumacher complained his rear tires felt like they were slipping on ice.
Williams driver Nicholas Latifi surprised everyone by posting the fastest time on his final lap.
“I was wondering if that clapping was for me,” joked Latifi, who is last in the standings and yet to score a point.
That joy was short-lived as the Canadian driver was among the five eliminated from Q1, along with Vettel and Gasly.
“I’m gutted,” said Gasly, who had one of his lap times deleted for going off track limits, also at Turn 5.
Latifi starts last on Sunday.
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Incredible exhausts: The worst crashes in motorsport history
A coincidental link between the Somerton Man and the professor who claims to have uncovered his identity has emerged, as previously held theories are debunked.
Key points:
Adelaide researcher Derek Abbott says the Somerton Man is Charles Webb
The enduring mystery of the man’s identity has baffled authorities for 70 years
In a bizarre coincidence, Professor Abbott and Charles Webb share the same occupation
Adelaide researcher Derek Abbott has been working on the Somerton Man case — one of Australia’s longest-running mysteries — for decades.
Last week he announced DNA and forensic genealogy had unearthed the unidentified man found slumped on an Adelaide beach in December 1948 as Carl “Charles” Webb, a 43-year-old Victorian electrical engineer and instrument maker.
In making the breakthrough, Professor Abbott has also ruled out his own theory: that his wife was the man’s granddaughter.
Decades of research has created deeply personal links for Professor Abbott, who met his now wife, Rachel Egan, through his investigations.
Rachel Egan and Derek Abbott at the grave of Somerton Man.(Australian Story: Ben Cheshire )
Professor Abbott wrote to Ms Egan, asking to meet after discovering she shared multiple links with the Somerton Man.
In addition to her biological grandmother’s phone number being found among the Somerton Man’s possessions, Professor Abbott also found her biological father shared two rare genetic anomalies with the man.
The pair quickly fell in love, married and went on to have three children.
But the link that brought them together has now been ruled out.
“We’ve also been able to now eliminate suspected possibilities in the past … including the one that my wife is related to the Somerton Man,” Professor Abbott told the ABC last week.
“[We] can totally rule that out now, her DNA does not match at all.”
The unknown man was found at an Adelaide beach in 1948.(Supplied: Derek Abbott)
But in a bizarre twist, another link between the family has been discovered.
Professor Abbott and Charles Webb share the same occupation of electrical engineers.
“That’s a coincidence, there’s lots of coincidences,” Professor Abbott said.
The public notice published in The Age newspaper on October 5, 1951. (Source: Trove)
In 1951, Mr Webb’s wife Dorothy Jean Webb put a public notice in The Age newspaper in Melbourne, publicizing that she had started divorce proceedings against her husband on the ground of “desertion”.
“Unless you enter an appearance in the Prothonotary’s Office of the Supreme Court of Melbourne on or before the 29th day of October, 1951 the case may proceed in your absence and you may be ordered to pay costs,” the ad states.
Their marriage certificate shows that Carl Webb and Dorothy Jean Robertson were married on October 4, 1941 at St Matthews in Prahran.
At the time, Mr Webb was 35 years old and his wife 21.
According to the certificate, the couple lived on Domain Road in South Yarra.
An excavator in Adelaide’s West Terrace cemetery works on the exhumation of the Somerton Man’s remains in May last year.(ABC News: Michael Clements)
Professor Abbott’s research into the case has been conducted separately from a police investigation, which included an exhumation last year with the Somerton Man’s remains taken from an Adelaide grave to a Forensic Science SA lab in the hope of harvesting DNA.
In a statement on Wednesday, SA Police said they were still “actively investigating” the coronial matter.
“We are heartened of the recent development in that case, and are cautiously optimistic that this may provide a breakthrough,” it said.
“We look forward to the outcome of further DNA work to confirm the identification which will ultimately be determined by the coroner.”
Professor Abbott said he will continue to “take an interest” in the case, as more questions needed to be answered about the man’s life and death.
“It’s not the end of the story by any means,” he said.
“Finding his name is really just the beginning of the story because now we’ve got to find out more about this man and his history and what he was doing and fill in all the gaps.”
Passengers aboard a cruise ship that sails weekly out of Boston awoke to a jolt early Saturday morning when the massive vessel was struck by a fishing boat.The US Coast Guard said it received a report of the collision involving the Norwegian Pearl at 2:25 am A spokesperson said a fishing boat, Gabby G, struck the Pearl’s midsection about 41 nautical miles east of Nantucket. The vessels were operating in rainy conditions at the time of the collision. “The seas were relatively calm and then all of a sudden the ship just started going to the side,” said passenger Jeff Coveney. “It’s a little concerning that we’re not being told completely what has been happening. Even if nothing happened we would like to know that something has not happened but the lack of transparency is worrying.”Coast Guard officials said damage to the cruise ship was minimal, but the fishing vessel was significantly damaged. One person aboard the Gabby G suffered a laceration. No one on the cruise ship was injured. The damaged Gabby G was taken to New Bedford. Video of the ship shows damage to her starboard bow. The Pearl is 965 feet long and can accommodate nearly 2,400 guests. She has 16 dining options, 15 bars and lounges, a casino and a spa. She sails weekly between Boston and Bermuda through November.
BOSTON—
Passengers aboard a cruise ship that sails weekly out of Boston awoke to a jolt early Saturday morning when the massive vessel was struck by a fishing boat.
The US Coast Guard said it received a report of the collision involving the Norwegian Pearl at 2:25 am A spokesperson said a fishing boat, Gabby G, struck the Pearl’s midsection about 41 nautical miles east of Nantucket.
The vessels were operating in rainy conditions at the time of the collision.
“The seas were relatively calm and then all of a sudden the ship just started going to the side,” said passenger Jeff Coveney. “It’s a little concerning that we’re not being told completely what has been happening. Even if nothing happened we would like to know that something has not happened but the lack of transparency is worrying.”
Coast Guard officials said damage to the cruise ship was minimal, but the fishing vessel was significantly damaged. One person aboard the Gabby G suffered a laceration. No one on the cruise ship was injured.
The damaged Gabby G was taken to New Bedford. Video of the ship shows damage to her starboard bow.
The Pearl is 965 feet long and can accommodate nearly 2,400 guests. She has 16 dining options, 15 bars and lounges, a casino and a spa.
She sails weekly between Boston and Bermuda through November.
On day 34 of the 2022 LCK Summer split, Gen.G defeated T1 2-0 in the second match of the day. Not only was Gen.G’s match victory over T1 their first time this season, they even managed to do it with a pentakill scored by their bot laner, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk.
Prior to this match, Gen.G’s mid laner, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, pledged that he’d sing at a karaoke room that’s in T1’s headquarters. After his victory tonight, he joined the LCK press room to talk about his victory, his pledge, and more
How do you feel to finally beat T1, and to do so in a clean 2-0 fashion?
The win/loss record against T1 was abysmal; I’m glad that we won tonight at a very important time.
Tonight’s victory was the first time you beat T1 this season.
As the current rendition of Gen.G, we lost to T1 quite a bit. Because they beat us quite often, I did get intimidated in the past, but I had this feeling that we were going to win tonight. We came back from when we were behind to win game 1, and Ruler even got a pentakill in game 2, so it feels more meaningful.
Why did you feel you were going to win tonight?
I thought we didn’t have a particular reason on why we’d lose. Our recent performance has been stellar so far, so I played with the mindset that we were going to win tonight.
How was Gen.G able to come back from such a deficit in game 1?
Doran’s Akali did die quite a bit, but he died after gaining quite a bit of an advantage from minion waves, so the damage was minimal, and the gap didn’t increase.
T1 played a very fast tempo game tonight. How did the team respond?
A key characteristic of playing Twisted Fate + Nocturne is to focus on one side of the map. When that happens, champions allocated in other lanes can gain a lot of advantages, and if you can maintain that state for a long time, you can gain a lot of advantages in levels and in gold. Doran did end up dying, but since TF + Nocturne slowly falls off towards the late game, we felt that the game was winnable.
What was the turning point for game 1?
Things went very smoothly for us when we were securing our fourth dragon. That’s when we felt the game was winnable.
What did you think about Doran’s dance after the victory?
It was hilarious. I didn’t think he’d actually do it.
T1’s bot laner, Gumayusi, said that he’d also dance if T1 wins. What were your thoughts when you heard about it?
I didn’t think too much about it. As for my own pledge, I have no plans to carry it out right away. I’ll do it when the right opportunity presents itself.
“dancing machine”
You personally have a negative win rate against Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Did it affect your gameplay at all?
League of Legends is a 5 vs 5 team game. The reason behind my bad win rate against Faker is because I lost a lot to the team he’s part of. Because Faker’s such a great player, I might get overshadowed by his talent. That’s why I have to play even more meticulously, even if it meant I didn’t individually stand out. I focused on how my team would win.
It’s hard to shake off the feeling of defeat, because it’s absolutely frustrating to lose. However, I think how you use those emotions in your next match is more important. For me, I think that the feeling of defeat just fueled my drive to win.
Gen.G’s most likely to finish 1st place in the regular split. How do you feel about your remaining matches?
A lot of people did say that we’ll finish first place if we beat T1. That’s when you’re most susceptible to complacency. I’ll make sure to stay focused until the end to win.
At the second of their two shows in Sydney this week, The Strokes performed their 2013 song ‘Welcome To Japan’ for the first time in six years.
Sandwiched between ‘Hard To Explain’ (from the band’s 2001 debut ‘Is This It’) and ‘What Ever Happened?’ (from 2003’s ‘Room On Fire’), the cut surprised fans in attendance, given that Julian Casablancas and co. hadn’t featured it in their setlist since 2016. They played it twice that year, and incidentally, one of those performances was also in Australia, at that year’s Splendor In The Grass festival.
As pointed out by Reddit user Clarkey101, last night’s show was also memorable for being The Strokes’ first performance to feature songs from all six of their studio albums as well as 2016’s ‘Future Present Past’ EP. ‘Welcome To Japan’ was the only song pulled from 2013’s ‘Comedown Machine’, while ‘Future Present Past’ and 2011’s ‘Angles’ album were also represented by one song each (‘Threat Of Joy’ and ‘Under Cover Of Darkness’, respectively).
Fans who attended Thursday’s (June 28) Sydney show weren’t left in the dust, though: The Strokes performed a total of 23 songs at that gig – including an improvised song and a playthrough of ‘Last Nite’ that wasn’t printed on the setlist – making it the longest show they’ve played all year.
Have a look at fan-shot footage of The Strokes playing ‘Welcome To Japan’ in Sydney, then check out the full setlist from last night’s show:
The Strokes played:
1. ‘Barely Legal’ 2. ‘Juicebox’ 3. ‘Bad Decisions’ 4. ‘Auto Stop’ 5. ‘Hard To Explain’ 6. ‘Welcome To Japan’ 7. ‘What Ever Happened?’ 8. ‘Reptile’ 9. ‘Threat Of Joy’ 10. ‘The Modern Age’ 11. ‘Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus’ 12. ‘Heart In A Cage’ 13. ‘Is This It’ 14. ‘The Adults Are Talking’ 15. ‘Trying Your Luck’ 16. ‘Under Cover Of Darkness’ 17. ‘Someday’ 18. ‘You Only Live Once’ 19. ‘Take It Or Leave It’
The Strokes are currently on tour in Australia to play Splendor In The Grass sideshows, having headlined the Byron Bay festival last weekend.
NME gave this year’s edition of Splendor a three-star review, writing that Casablancas fronted The Strokes’ set “with a tired wobble and exasperated mumble”, but “when it came to classic cuts like ‘Juicebox’ and ‘Hard To Explain’, Jules ‘ Vocals were sharp and compelling, gelling with his bandmates – particularly Nick Valensi and his red-hot guitar solos – with spellbinding aplomb”.
Casablancas has drawn controversy for his behavior at recent shows. At the TRNSMT festival, for example, he came under scrutiny from fans after many fans expressed concern that he appeared to be heavily intoxicated. Earlier in the month, he was criticized for his “erratic” performance at the Roskilde festival.
NME saw none of that behavior at Splendor In The Grass, though Casablancas’ tendency to ramble between songs was pointed out in his review of Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival.
The Brisbane Lions’ premiership hopes took a significant hit on Sunday afternoon, with Richmond putting the side’s top-four hopes in jeopardy following a stunning come-from-behind win at the MCG.
Brisbane at one stage in the first half held a 42-point lead, but was reigned in during a thrilling second-half that ultimately ended in the Lions’ 11th straight loss at the MCG, with the side still yet to win at the venue since 2014.
Despite the loss, Fagan said the MCG hoodoo remained an external talking point rather than a genuine phenomenon.
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Brisbane Lions press conference | 06:30
“It’s our best performance at the MCG for a long period of time I would’ve thought,” he said post-game.
“It doesn’t matter to me but I thought anyone watching the game would’ve thought it was a fantastic game of football. We were in it all the way to the end.
“Richmond had a really strong team tonight outside of Dustin. They had a lot to play for, as did we, we were trying to cement ourselves in the top four, now we’re in a battle, they’re trying to get back in the eight … there was no lack of effort on our side or theirs, it was a good reply in that regard.”
Not helping the Lions’ cause was an injury to Zac Bailey in the opening half, which forced Darcy Fort – a ruckman – into the contest as his replacement.
It was a move that raised eyebrows, but one Fagan was coy on when asked post-game.
“In hindsight it was the wrong decision to have Darcy as the sub. It’s probably something I’d rather keep in-house to be honest,” he said.
“I appreciate you asking the question, but we have our reasons and they’re good reasons, but in reflection tonight it would’ve been better to have a running player for sure.”
Speaking on Fox Footy, Dermott Brereton said Fagan had every right to be more frustrated with his side.
“I wouldn’t like to be sitting on one of the wooden seats inside the rooms as coach Fagan decides to give them a recital of what he’s just seen in the last 60 minutes,” he said.
Richmond Tigers Press Conference | 08:42
“Even though they got to within two goals at three quarter-time, I felt like they could still stabilize, Brisbane. Not until Rioli bombed one from 55m did I go ‘woah, this is really dangerous for them now’.”
Co-host Nick Dal Santo said the MCG factor was less of a concern than the sheer collapse the side suffered in the second half.
“Yes the ground conversation will get brought up and I think rightly so, but more damning and more disappointing from a coach’s perspective and the leaders of this football club is they weren’t able to shut the game down during the third quarter, let alone the last quarter,” he said.
“Lachie Neale got enough of the football, so my question becomes what went wrong and who didn’t stand up?
“Because you can’t ask a lot more from their key forwards, particularly in that first half, but it dropped off so quickly and their inability to minimize the momentum when the Tigers had it.”
Asked if there were elements of a “choke” in the Lions’ loss, Dal Santo said: “You’d have to say yes. But to what degree of a choke, I’m not quite sure.
“But when you’re up by 42 points, you are well and truly in control.”
Brereton added: “I thought they put in well enough to say it wasn’t a choke. Richmond just went back to their tried and true formula.”
Mark Pigott remembers the cries of black crows breaking a heavy silence after the Thredbo disaster.
Pigott, an Olympic skier, watched from afar as rescue workers searched through rubble in the days after the landslide that claimed 18 lives at the ski resort in July 1997.
“Whenever they thought they could hear something, they went: ‘Hush, hush, hush’,” he says.
“You could hear a pin drop across the resort. Often the only thing you could hear [were] the black crows.”
Ski instructor Stuart Diver was the only survivor. He was rescued after many hours of tunneling through unstable debris to where he was trapped under concrete slabs.(ABC News (video still))
Pigott — who competed in acroski at the 1992 Winter Olympics — was in Thredbo and Perisher for training at the time of the landslide, which decimated two ski lodges just before midnight on July 30.
While staying at the nearby town of Jindabyne, Pigott was woken up by a dawn phone call from his father.
“All he said to me was: ‘Where are you?’ I said: ‘Jindabyne why?’ And he said: ‘Don’t worry, you’ll find out’.
“I ran and put on the TV and, sure enough, there it was.”
Saturday, July 30, at 11:40pm, will mark 25 years since the landslide, one of the deadliest natural disasters in Australian history.
After sunset, skiers will mark the occasion by carrying flares down the slopes, a long-time weekend winter tradition at the resort.
They will remember the victims, who were all part of the tight-knit Thredbo resort community, including hotel staff, maintenance workers, management and housekeepers.
Ski instructor Stuart Diver was the only survivor, after being trapped in a small air pocket under one of the lodges for three days. His wife of him, Sally, was one of the victims.
Skiers will do a memorial flare run on the mountain at Thredbo.(AAP: Mick Tsikas)
Mr Diver — who is now Thredbo’s general manager — says Australians continue to have an emotional attachment to his story.
“Everyone remembers where they were on that day, when the landslide ended,” Mr Diver said in an interview on the Better Than Yesterday podcast last year.
“I’m really no different to anyone else, I just happened to go through an unfortunate situation and come through the other end.”
In 2000, state coroner Derrick Hand found the landslide was triggered when water from a leaking main saturated an embankment on the Alpine Way road.
The ground gave way near the Carinya ski lodge, shearing it from its foundations and pushing it onto the Bimbadeen lodge.
The rescue effort and resulting investigation have gone on to inform disaster training around the world.(Australian Emergency Management Institute)
Witnesses described hearing creaking, groaning and screeching “not unlike a steam train coming to a halt” in the hours before the collapse.
But it is the silence that stands out in many people’s memories of the aftermath, as rescuers used highly sensitive audio equipment in their attempts to find signs of life.
The rescue effort and resulting investigation have gone on to inform disaster training locally around the world.
In NSW, the first search and rescue course took place a year after the incident and has been running ever since.
Assistant Commissioner David Lewis says emergency services learned many valuable lessons from the disaster.(abcnews)
There are about 250 Fire and Rescue NSW personnel currently trained, with the organization now accredited with the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group — one of about 60 teams across the world.
“In 25 years, we’ve certainly come a long way, we’ve learned more valuable lessons,” Assistant Commissioner David Lewis said.
“It was a tragic event but, out of those tragic events, we’ve had great learnings where Fire and Rescue would now be one of the world leaders in urban search and rescue.
“The main thing for us is that we learn from these tragedies so we can ensure that our communities are safer into the future.”
NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said Fire and Rescue had faced one of its toughest day since its history.
“On that day our firefighters, 165 of them, were to subsequently receive commendations for their meritorious service during that marathon search and rescue operation faced with incredible challenges,” she said.
“They’re some of the most highly trained in the world and they played that critical role in Thredbo 25 years ago and what the organization has learned has stood them in good stead both now and well into the future.
“It certainly laid the foundation for the organization’s world-leading urban search and rescue capabilities.”
NSW police this week also paid tribute to the rescuers, saying they worked in extremely dangerous conditions but still managed to find Mr Diver “beyond all odds”.
“Confronting rescue crews was the risk of further landslides, uneven rubble, leaking sewage and constant running water,” police said.
“Rescue operators also risked being affected by hyperthermia and frostbite in the winter, sub-zero temperatures.”
Pigott said although people had slowly moved on, the memories of that winter night remained.
“It’s incredibly sad, very raw and personal, because everybody knew somebody involved.”
At 6:10pm this evening the ski resort will hold a flare run and special fireworks ceremony to commemorate the tragedy.
Defending his actions Sunday, Toomey said he’s working to amend the bill in a way that would “not change by one penny any spending on any veterans program,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“What I’m trying to do is change a government accounting methodology that is designed to allow our Democratic colleagues to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree that has nothing to do with veterans and won’t be in the veterans space,” he said.
“My change, honest people acknowledge, will have no effect on the amount of money or the circumstances under which the money for veterans is being spent,” he said. “What I want to do is treat it for government accounting purposes the way we’ve always treated it for government accounting purposes.”
He added that if his amendment passes, he will vote for the bill.
On the same CNN program, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said Toomey’s delaying action was petty and unnecessary.
“In terms of what happens, in terms of amendments and everything else up there… what I’d say is, these folks have waited long enough. Let’s just get it done,” he said. “I think they should just get on with it, have the vote.”
McDonough said the accounting changes that Toomey is seeking could harm veterans’ care. “I can’t in good conscience do that, because the outcome of that will be rationing of care for vets, which is something I just can’t sign up for,” he said.
Burn pits have been used by the US military to dispose waste at military sites outside the United States. The smoke from those disposal sites has been seen to cause long-term respiratory illness in the exposed soldiers.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Stewart expressed cynicism about the Republicans’ response, saying it was purely a power move.
“We’ve been through this with the 9/11 first responders,” he said.
“What Toomey’s amendment wants to do is make sure that our sick and dying veterans have the pleasure that our 9/11 first responders at Ground Zero had of having to come back to Washington, hat in hand, riddled with cancer, and march through the halls of the Hill begging for money every year.”
