After stepping down as chief scientific advisor to the British government on April 1, Sir John Beddington Sir John Beddington exhaled a long list of real and nonsense risks that politicians should do more to fight for and against at a valedictory discussion held at the UK’s Science Media Centre. Of particular interest to readers of this column are his comments on the failure of politicians – and particularly the European Union – to grasp the difference between a hazard and a risk when crafting policy. A hazard is something that can cause harm; a risk is the probability that a hazard will cause harm. Read the full article on Forbes.com.