Peter Brommer
@pbro.bsky.social
Born, lives. Cares about active transport, including cycling, sustainability. Associate Professor in Materials Modelling at Warwick University.
Pronouns: he/him.
Mastodon: @pbro@mas.to
Twitter: @pbro48 (inactive)
Pronouns: he/him.
Mastodon: @pbro@mas.to
Twitter: @pbro48 (inactive)
Pinned
Peter Brommer
@pbro.bsky.social
· Jun 16
Scooping for ground states
Nature Physics - More than a hundred quasicrystals have been found so far, but their thermodynamic stability has remained an open question. Extrapolating density functional theory calculations of...
rdcu.be
Are quasicrystals thermodynamic ground states? I wrote a News & Views piece for @natphys.nature.com on the work of Baek & coauthors, who used DFT (density functional theory) with clever extrapolation to show that there is strong evidence that two quasicrystals indeed are ground states. rdcu.be/eqRPM
So many new followers. Time to renew my #ProofOfCat (it's #Caturday after all).
January 10, 2026 at 3:16 PM
So many new followers. Time to renew my #ProofOfCat (it's #Caturday after all).
Reposted by Peter Brommer
You’ve build a probabilistic model and, for a small data set, computed posterior inferences with Hamiltonian Monte Carlo. Everything works great and, flush with confidence, you throw the model against all of your data only for everything to go to hell....
January 8, 2026 at 5:16 AM
You’ve build a probabilistic model and, for a small data set, computed posterior inferences with Hamiltonian Monte Carlo. Everything works great and, flush with confidence, you throw the model against all of your data only for everything to go to hell....
Reposted by Peter Brommer
It would be, except the highway authorities don't get the savings and with budgets cut to the bone, they've no incentive.
January 7, 2026 at 6:15 PM
It would be, except the highway authorities don't get the savings and with budgets cut to the bone, they've no incentive.
I first heard (and sang, with the McGill Choral Society) the haunting Coventry Carol years before even knowing I'd be making Coventry my bike home. Here's a BBC article about its history and its links to peace and reconciliation. www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Coventry peace carol based on a Biblical massacre
The Coventry Carol stands alongside the cathedral as a symbol of peace and reconciliation.
www.bbc.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I first heard (and sang, with the McGill Choral Society) the haunting Coventry Carol years before even knowing I'd be making Coventry my bike home. Here's a BBC article about its history and its links to peace and reconciliation. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Peter Brommer
Remember when HS2 to Leeds was cancelled by the NIC's shitty maths and fundamental lack of expertise, and Leeds was thrown the bone of "you'll get trams" and I said those would never be delivered?
Yeah, as I was saying...
Yeah, as I was saying...
December 18, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Remember when HS2 to Leeds was cancelled by the NIC's shitty maths and fundamental lack of expertise, and Leeds was thrown the bone of "you'll get trams" and I said those would never be delivered?
Yeah, as I was saying...
Yeah, as I was saying...
Reposted by Peter Brommer
“This could become expensive for citizens in the long term.”
Some German municipal heat plans continue to rely heavily on gas networks — often with the promise that they will one day run on green hydrogen.
I was interviewed by
@stefanhajek.bsky.social @wirtschaftswoche.bsky.social
Links below.
Some German municipal heat plans continue to rely heavily on gas networks — often with the promise that they will one day run on green hydrogen.
I was interviewed by
@stefanhajek.bsky.social @wirtschaftswoche.bsky.social
Links below.
December 16, 2025 at 10:25 AM
“This could become expensive for citizens in the long term.”
Some German municipal heat plans continue to rely heavily on gas networks — often with the promise that they will one day run on green hydrogen.
I was interviewed by
@stefanhajek.bsky.social @wirtschaftswoche.bsky.social
Links below.
Some German municipal heat plans continue to rely heavily on gas networks — often with the promise that they will one day run on green hydrogen.
I was interviewed by
@stefanhajek.bsky.social @wirtschaftswoche.bsky.social
Links below.
10 billion spaffed up the wall to appease the fash. What a country.
Government has now - belatedly -published the impact assessment for the changes to skilled worker and care worker visas announced in May.
Impact is estimated between -£2 billion and £-10 billion (central - £10 billion).
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937e6...
Impact is estimated between -£2 billion and £-10 billion (central - £10 billion).
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937e6...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
December 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
10 billion spaffed up the wall to appease the fash. What a country.
Reposted by Peter Brommer
36 years ago today, 14 women, most of whom were studying engineering, were killed by an anti-feminist gun man at École Polytechnique in Montreal. I was a young graduate student studying physics at the time and I will never forget. #MontrealMassacre #NeverForget 🧪 👩🔬 ⚛️ 🎢 #AcademicSky 🇨🇦
December 6, 2025 at 7:02 PM
36 years ago today, 14 women, most of whom were studying engineering, were killed by an anti-feminist gun man at École Polytechnique in Montreal. I was a young graduate student studying physics at the time and I will never forget. #MontrealMassacre #NeverForget 🧪 👩🔬 ⚛️ 🎢 #AcademicSky 🇨🇦
Reposted by Peter Brommer
It is so sad to see new exclusionary policies from Girlguiding, where trans girls had been so included before.
The Woodcraft Folk is a brilliant, inclusive, non-segregated alternative for young people seeking fun, adventure and community!
woodcraft.org.uk/woodcraft-fo...
The Woodcraft Folk is a brilliant, inclusive, non-segregated alternative for young people seeking fun, adventure and community!
woodcraft.org.uk/woodcraft-fo...
Woodcraft Folk statement on the exclusion of trans children from Girlguiding - Woodcraft Folk
Woodcraft Folk stands in solidarity with every trans child, young person and volunteer who faces exclusion from Girlguiding UK following the announcement on Trans inclusion. We recognise that Girlgui...
woodcraft.org.uk
December 3, 2025 at 3:56 PM
It is so sad to see new exclusionary policies from Girlguiding, where trans girls had been so included before.
The Woodcraft Folk is a brilliant, inclusive, non-segregated alternative for young people seeking fun, adventure and community!
woodcraft.org.uk/woodcraft-fo...
The Woodcraft Folk is a brilliant, inclusive, non-segregated alternative for young people seeking fun, adventure and community!
woodcraft.org.uk/woodcraft-fo...
Reposted by Peter Brommer
🚨Just released🚨
'Tipping the balance: Cheaper electricity is needed to drive clean heating'
Our brand new globally focussed paper looks at the role of energy pricing in delivering clean heat uptake and provides examples of what has been done to reduce electricity prices.
'Tipping the balance: Cheaper electricity is needed to drive clean heating'
Our brand new globally focussed paper looks at the role of energy pricing in delivering clean heat uptake and provides examples of what has been done to reduce electricity prices.
December 1, 2025 at 8:09 AM
🚨Just released🚨
'Tipping the balance: Cheaper electricity is needed to drive clean heating'
Our brand new globally focussed paper looks at the role of energy pricing in delivering clean heat uptake and provides examples of what has been done to reduce electricity prices.
'Tipping the balance: Cheaper electricity is needed to drive clean heating'
Our brand new globally focussed paper looks at the role of energy pricing in delivering clean heat uptake and provides examples of what has been done to reduce electricity prices.
Reposted by Peter Brommer
Labour's anti-asylum policies are already fundamentally inhumane and discriminatory. Applying them retrospectively is pure cruelty though. It serves absolutely no purpose. Meanwhile it will increase the costs and bureaucracy of an already dysfunctional Home Office.
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
November 24, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Labour's anti-asylum policies are already fundamentally inhumane and discriminatory. Applying them retrospectively is pure cruelty though. It serves absolutely no purpose. Meanwhile it will increase the costs and bureaucracy of an already dysfunctional Home Office.
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
www.thetimes.com/article/6f83...
Reposted by Peter Brommer
I'd like to see the response to this if the question added "if that that means universities have less money to spend on UK students".
With Rachel Reeves reportedly set to apply a new tax on tuition fees paid by overseas students, most Britons support such a move at the previously mooted level of 6%
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
November 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I'd like to see the response to this if the question added "if that that means universities have less money to spend on UK students".
Reposted by Peter Brommer
Compare and contrast the Government language.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
November 21, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Compare and contrast the Government language.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
Reposted by Peter Brommer
Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember the transgender lives lost to violence.
The Green Party stands shoulder to shoulder with transgender people in the face of increasing transphobic rhetoric in our society and politics.
The Green Party stands shoulder to shoulder with transgender people in the face of increasing transphobic rhetoric in our society and politics.
November 20, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember the transgender lives lost to violence.
The Green Party stands shoulder to shoulder with transgender people in the face of increasing transphobic rhetoric in our society and politics.
The Green Party stands shoulder to shoulder with transgender people in the face of increasing transphobic rhetoric in our society and politics.
Reposted by Peter Brommer
![4-panel vertical comic. (1) 100 Years Ago [two people standing next to bicycle with small car nearby] PERSON 1: It’s too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too. (2) 50 Years Ago [two people between smaller car and bigger car] PERSON 2 with short hair: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one. (3) Today [two people between big car and even bigger car] PERSON 1: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don’t get the biggest one, I’m putting my family at risk. (4) Soon [two people next to large armored car with spiked clubs attached] PERSON 2: If I don’t install more whirling spike clubs, I’ll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiby6can6k76yzfmv2czxs4pu2l7zie7bqbrpswi7h3ifmiadkuqvu@jpeg)
Reposted by Peter Brommer
For a party that has always, and always will, stand up for refugee rights - join.greenparty.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
For a party that has always, and always will, stand up for refugee rights - join.greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by Peter Brommer
Why! Sorry, but why? Labour's anti-asylum, anti-immigration, policies are the antithesis of anything anyone who genuinely supports human rights should be defending. They're absolutely inhumane and condemnable. Anyone supporting them can't claim to be "progressive"
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
No 10 tells Labour MPs it expects support for tough new asylum policies
Some backbenchers already opposing planned immigration crackdown seen as ‘economically and culturally illiterate’
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Why! Sorry, but why? Labour's anti-asylum, anti-immigration, policies are the antithesis of anything anyone who genuinely supports human rights should be defending. They're absolutely inhumane and condemnable. Anyone supporting them can't claim to be "progressive"
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Looong thread on make
Labour's anti-immigration stance and why progressives are disappointed with this government.
Labour's anti-immigration stance and why progressives are disappointed with this government.
Very long thread: As with many of Labour's anti-immigration policies, this isn't new. British police have been stationed in other countries for this purpose for a long time
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
It does however show how Labour is pushing more on anti-immigration than previous governments. 1/
www.lbc.co.uk/article/shab...
Home Secretary orders police and border 'hit squads' to Albania to stamp out people smugglers | LBC
Shabana Mahmood will send hit squads of police and border force teams to Albania in a fresh drive to stamp out people-smuggling gangs upstream.
www.lbc.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Looong thread on make
Labour's anti-immigration stance and why progressives are disappointed with this government.
Labour's anti-immigration stance and why progressives are disappointed with this government.
I think she's blaming me for the weather outside. "Human, do something about it! Make the rain stop!"
November 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I think she's blaming me for the weather outside. "Human, do something about it! Make the rain stop!"
Reposted by Peter Brommer
One important thing to understand about these policy support mechanisms (“benefits for middle class voters”) being scrapped or slashed is that they are *expressly designed* to incentivise people with money to spend it on clean technology, on basis that public spending can’t deliver transition on own
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
One important thing to understand about these policy support mechanisms (“benefits for middle class voters”) being scrapped or slashed is that they are *expressly designed* to incentivise people with money to spend it on clean technology, on basis that public spending can’t deliver transition on own
Reposted by Peter Brommer
The cost of living crisis was caused in large part by gas prices.
Heat pump policy supports a solution which which gets the country off gas AND reduces emissions.
I seriously hope this is some crossed wires, if not we really are in trouble.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Heat pump policy supports a solution which which gets the country off gas AND reduces emissions.
I seriously hope this is some crossed wires, if not we really are in trouble.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The cost of living crisis was caused in large part by gas prices.
Heat pump policy supports a solution which which gets the country off gas AND reduces emissions.
I seriously hope this is some crossed wires, if not we really are in trouble.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Heat pump policy supports a solution which which gets the country off gas AND reduces emissions.
I seriously hope this is some crossed wires, if not we really are in trouble.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Car size, by @xkcd.com xkcd.com/3167
Car Size
xkcd.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Car size, by @xkcd.com xkcd.com/3167
Reposted by Peter Brommer
“Heat pumps are superior in efficiency to condensing boilers, even if the heat pumps are powered by electricity from a power station burning natural gas.”
Not me saying that but the late Prof Sir David MacKay.
More in my @carbonbrief.org article 👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
Not me saying that but the late Prof Sir David MacKay.
More in my @carbonbrief.org article 👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
November 9, 2025 at 9:05 PM
“Heat pumps are superior in efficiency to condensing boilers, even if the heat pumps are powered by electricity from a power station burning natural gas.”
Not me saying that but the late Prof Sir David MacKay.
More in my @carbonbrief.org article 👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
Not me saying that but the late Prof Sir David MacKay.
More in my @carbonbrief.org article 👇
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/he...
![Screenshot of autofilled web form. Question: What is your ethnicity?
Autofilled answer: "Coventry" [white checkmark in grey circle]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:va2mlgyf6hdoycqe6r3volzt/bafkreif5x26jrkgjwl3ojbb2rrzwckhbpkj2i5negxcqkcqfk6uvzvoaui@jpeg)
Great sleuthing by @krivachytamas.bsky.social - a broken Springer API causes referencing chaos. Read the thread (and/or) their paper at arxiv.org/abs/2511.01675
November 5, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Great sleuthing by @krivachytamas.bsky.social - a broken Springer API causes referencing chaos. Read the thread (and/or) their paper at arxiv.org/abs/2511.01675