Photo illustration by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff

Campus & Community
5 things we learned this week

Sy Boles

Harvard Staff Writer

March 13, 2025 1 min read

How closely have you been following the Gazette? Take our quiz to find out.

Ditching butter has a big impact. Climate change is changing the forest. The cost of homeowners insurance is screwy. Drug manufacturing costs could be lower. Harvard runs (or ran) on typewriters.

1. Why did new research suggest that swapping butter with olive, canola, or soybean oils could lead to a 17 percent lower risk of premature death?

Plant-based oils have fewer calories per tablespoon

Plant-based oils are less likely to be used in baked goods, which tend to be high in sugar

Plant-based oils are high in unsaturated fatty acids

All of the above

2. As climate change impacts the makeup of Harvard Forest, what is replacing dying hemlocks?

Douglas fir trees

Black birch trees

Live oak trees

Invasive vines

3. Climate change is affecting homeowners insurance. How did California regulators change the rules after the recent wildfires?

They capped insurance rates to keep prices low

They allowed insurance companies to use catastrophic models to price their risks

They created a state-funded insurance program to replace private insurance

They mandated all homeowners purchase wildfire insurance

4. The secret to manufacturing less expensive pharmaceuticals could lie in a modified relative of what common liquid you might have around the house?

Bleach

Coffee

Vinegar

Nail polish remover

5. What famous Harvard scholar said he or she still uses three typewriters purchased from Cambridge Typewriter?

Jill Lepore

Annette Gordon-Reed

Robert Putnam

Vivek Murthy

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