I stumbled upon a terrifying plot legend in Wen (2025) “Updated Earth Tomography Using Atmospheric Neutrinos at IceCube”: “Vacuum earth is 5.16 sigma away” - but in which direction? Should we be nervous? Relieved? How far away is a sigma, exactly? So many questions!

The top left corner of a scientific plot with a beige label with the text "Vacuum earth is 5.16 sigma away"
Matthew Kenworthy @kenworthy