Tyler Chuck-Yin and Helena Alexandra. Image courtesy of Andres Valenzuela/Toronto Star

This Toronto couple were wed at a subway station — where they met two years earlier

Helena Alexandra and Tyler Chuck-Yin spotted each other for the first time in April 2024 at Bathurst Station. As time went on, they became closer, and eventually, Chuck-Yin asked Alexandra to marry him. Since they both preferred a small wedding, why not officiate at the very station where their love story blossomed?

Read more of this adorable story here.

Canadian politicians invite Somali referee who was denied entry by U.S. for FIFA World Cup

Political leaders from Canadian World Cup host cities Toronto and Vancouver are standing in solidarity with Omar Artan. The Somali referee was blocked from entering the U.S. despite having the paperwork, forcing him to withdraw from his officiating duties for the 2026 tournament. British Columbia Premier David Eby and Toronto mayor Olivia Chow welcomed Artan to host some of the games.

Read more here.

Support Hopium's caffeine addiction!

Getty Images

Canada passes law that will ban kids under 16 from social media platforms

Ottawa moved to ban children under 16 from having social media accounts, unless the companies prove they can improve the safety on the platforms. Canada has joined countries such as Australia, Indonesia, and Brazil in introducing age-restrictions for children to access social media. Under Bill C-34, the companies behind AI chatbots must act responsibility, and implement measures that deploy crisis intervention protocols for cases involving harmful content.

Beloved children’s books to translate popular stories into Indigenous languages

A CBC Books post reported earlier today that the Yukon Native Language Centre will be translating 20 books by children’s books author Robert Munsch into Indigenous languages — particularly stories with connections to the Yukon province in Canada.

Learn more here.

Amazon deforestation hits lowest point since 2019

In 2025, deforestation levels fell by 23% compared to the year prior, according to a report from a Brazil-based land-mapping project. Brazil saw a massive 21% decrase in forest loss last year, with the total deforestation dropping to almost 985,000 hectares — including a significant slowdown in the Amazon. This progress is mainly driven by increased legal enforcement and a dramatic turnaround on protected grounds; clear-cutting within Indigenous territories plummeted by 25% compared to last year.

Ontario bans employers from ghosting candidates

Earlier this year, the Ontario government proposed changes in legislature to make the recruitment process easier, or at least less anxiety-inducing, for jobseekers.

“(…) We are supporting jobseekers by taking a balanced approach that gives them greater certainty in the hiring process without adding unnecessary or onerous requirements for employers,” said David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development in a press release.

If the regulation passes, exploitative employers will be fined double the maximum for violating the Employment Standards Act — making this the highest penalty in Canada.

17-year-old solves medical flaw in award-winning project on oxygen sensors

Kitchener, Ont.-based student Gurnoor Kaur won the innovation award at the Canada-Wide Science Fair for a project showing how oxygen monitors can fail blood oxygen levels in patients with darker skin tones.

Image courtesy of Carmen Groleau/CBC

In a related project, Kaur created a device that detects hospital-induced delirium in darker-skinned patients, noting the problem lies in the lack of data from diverse demographics.

Read more here.

The ‘Attenborough Effect’

As natural historian and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday in May, his legacy has influenced a new generation of environmental activists and nature-lovers.

Image courtesy of BBC

Known for his soothing narrations on the natural world, Attenborough is iconic for pioneering several natural history documentaries. Today, a generation of nature-lovers have emerged as they explore various media forms to teach about the natural world.

In 2022 , scientists from the Global Ecology and Conservation journal found that children’s willingness to conserve wild animals positively correlates with frequent direct (spending time outdoors) and indirect (watching nature channels or reading books) contact with nature, their knowledge and likeability of natural species. The paper suggests that wildlife conservation would benefit from encouraging children to learn about the natural world in several ways.

Space-based solar power could be the key to utilizing solar energy on Earth

Space-based solar power (also called SBSP) — where a network of orbiting satellite constellations use mirror-like reflectors to beam solar energy directly to Earth — could be cost-competitive by 2040.

A new study by the United Kingdom’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) shows that smaller SBSP systems could easily piggyback on existing infrastructure, such as offshore wind farms, to feed electricity straight to energy grids, homes and businesses.

One research associate Adam Law says that realizing SBSP “will be difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.”

Read more here.

Canadian humpback whales may have learned to make bubble nets from Alaskan neighbours

In a remarkable evolutionary shift, Canadian humpback whales have begun adopting new feeding behaviours to ensure their survival after being nearly wiped out by the commercial whaling industry years prior.

Canadian humpback whales in northern British Columbia have learned to make bubble nets to capture fish, and researchers think they may have learned this technique from Alaskan whales in Hawaii.

Learn more here.

In case you missed it:

Support Hopium with a one-time donation!

Take a break from endless doomscrolling and chill with us.

Image courtesy of the Charles Darwin Foundation

Tiny octopus discovered near Darwin Island

Scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation in Galapagos discovered a new species of a small blue octopus which can fit in the palm of your hand. Its legal name is Microeledone galapagensis, and its blueness may help it survive in the ocean. Cute, right?

Federal government invests $200K in Maritimes coastal restoration project

The Canadian government has invested $200,000 in the Maritimes Coastal Trails Project. The purpose of the project is to improve resiliency against flooding, erosion, and invasive species, while improving biodiversity in the region in three sites across the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia provinces.

Indie bookstores are very much alive — and thriving

A lot of people are under the impression that the publishing industry is dying, when it’s really transforming. Associated Press journalist Hillel Italie reported that the number of indie bookstores have since expanded like never before. The article also suggested that bookstores are increasingly operating in unconventional methods, such as mobile travelling bookstores and pop-ups alongside general interest stores.

The AI Resist List — a growing online list on revolutions against the AI revolution

Empire of AI author and American journalist Karen Hao launched the AI Resist List, digital database that contains a non-exhaustive list of cases of people protesting Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. Whether it’s data annotators forming unions and mental health resources or digital resources on decentering Big Tech from your life, be sure to check out this project for the full list.

Image courtesy of UNDP Guinea-Bissau/Joao Azeredo

How solar technology is helping people with malaria

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Central Procurement Agency for Essential Medicines (CECOME) added upgrades to a medical warehouse in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, which uses smart tech and solar power to supply protect the medicines from the country’s climate, and stores malaria prevention and treatment tablets. The warehouse is also equipped with an automatic inventory management system that identifies when medicines are nearly expired. The UNDP’s report says that the warehouse provided eight million malaria prevention and treatment tablets, and around 400,000 tests were delivered to public health facilities.

We’re living through tough times, but hopefully these snippets of good news inspire you to stay optimistic!

Support Hopium's caffeine addiction!