Webb Takes a Stunning, Star-Filled Portrait of the Pillars of Creation (Full View) · Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Koekemoer, A. Pagan (STScI). · CC BY 4.0
About
The universe is weird. We’ll explain.
Five Sigma is a physics publication for people who want the real story — explained clearly, sourced carefully, and honest about uncertainty.
Why “five sigma”?
In particle physics, a result has to reach “five sigma” before anyone calls it a discovery. Roughly, it means the data would be extremely surprising — about a one-in-3.5-million fluke — if nothing new were there. It is the field’s way of saying: we are not fooling ourselves. We chose the name as a standard to live up to, not a slogan. We tell you exactly how sure science is — no more, no less. (Five sigma has its own subtleties; we explain them in our first article.)
What we do
Five Sigma started as a series of short physics videos. Sixty seconds is enough to spark curiosity but never enough to tell the whole story, so every video now has a full companion article that goes much deeper — with the sources, the equations for those who want them, interactive figures computed from the real physics, and an honest list of what the video had to simplify.
Beyond the articles, the site is meant to be a place to wander: topic hubs, a glossary of every technical term, and interactive “explorables” where you change a number and watch the physics respond.
How we work
Every claim is traced to a source we have read, every number is recomputed in code, and every link is checked. Our full editorial policy — including how we use AI tools and how we correct mistakes — is The 5σ Standard.
Who we are
[Coming soon: who is behind Five Sigma, and why it exists.]
Contact
[A contact email address is coming soon.] To report a mistake, please use the error report form.