Icon Vollebak Full Metal Jacket A disease-killing coat to hide inside until this

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VOLLEBAK FULL METAL JACKET R18 650 / vollebak.com

I know Liverpool are the team of the moment, but are shellsuits really back in fashion? Calm down, calm down. You’re more likely to see this on the streets of east London than Merseyside – but it’s not just a questionable item of clothing. Embedded in the three-layer fabric of Vollebak’s Full Metal Jacket, you’ll find 11km of woven copper that could hold the key to the future of disease-resistant clothing. So this has nothing to do with Kubrick’s Vietnam War classic? No, and strictly speaking it’s not even ‘full metal’, considering it only comprises 65 % copper; but the metal’s ability to conduct heat and power is also perfect for killing bacteria and viruses.

It’s the perfect jacket then? Can I wear it year-round? Not quite. The jacket is breathable, but this is designed to keep you warm during winter. In South Africa’s sweltering summers, you’ll need something a bit less… insulated.

Is there some science behind this? Copper is an underrated material: early civilisations like the Egyptians used it to make medical instruments and sterilise water way before we used it to wire speakers. And now NASA has wised up to the genius of this wonder-metal and is using it to create medical devices for astronauts, thanks to a partnership with a US/Chilean company called Copper 3D.

So this jacket can kill Covid-19? Well, its antimicrobial properties mean bacteria and viruses die when they make contact with it, wiping out their DNA so they can’t develop future resistance. That means it could kill coronavirus in theory… but to be clear, this hasn’t been tested. Yet.

COPPER’S PROPERTIES MAKE IT PERFECT FOR KILLING BACTERIA AND VIRUSES

Bright like the… moon? SONOS MOVE

We know, we know. The Sonos Move has been here before. We’ve reviewed it, it sits comfortably atop the Top Ten list for speakers, and everyone’s happy. But that was before Sonos announced that our fave Bluetooth speakers now come in a brand new colour. This one’ll really tie a room together if you don’t like the base Sonos black scheme. The Move now comes in Lunar White, which, while less ethereal than it sounds, will look perfect in just about any yoga studio. It features an ultra-light grey exterior “designed to blend naturally with both indoor and outdoor environments” according to Sonos. We think we see it… R9 000 / sonos.co.za

For the love of nod WITHINGS SLEEP ANALYZER

Withings has been snoozing on the job. How else do you explain the handy upgrades given to its under-mattress slumber tracker? Replacing the Withings Sleep, the Sleep Analyzer looks near-identical but increases the ability to detect sleep apnoea, which gives breathing problems to up to a billion people around the world. A daily score out of 100 is calculated by how deep, long and restful your night’s sleep was, and sharing that data with a doctor could help with diagnosis and ongoing monitoring. It’s no gimmick: the sleep apnoea element has been validated by separate clinical studies that, Withings says, come close to matching the results from specialist clinics. Rtba / withings.com

W TF IS STUFF PLAYS?

You’re never too old to try something new and since Stuff is a little over ten years old, it’s bound to be thinking about streaming an inordinate amount. Just like every other tween out there, the call of the camera lens has turned into a siren’s song, lulling the Stuff team into a blissful, dreamy state. Unlike sailors of old, however, we’re not about to wreck ourselves on some rocks on account of ye olden days Spotify.

What are Earth are you on about? StuffPlays, dear boy (or girl), StuffPlays. Stuff Magazine’s website has a new sibling – that is far more visually inclined than our usual snarky text and testing. We’ve got a studio (of sorts) populated by all manner of gaming goodies harvested from the vaults of the Stuff team (including an OG Nintendo PowerGlove – yah-huh) and we’re going to use it to make magic. Gaming magic, because that’s how the world’s going to communicate soon. Turns out Ernest Cline was (kinda) right.

Nobody’s in feedback suits and hooked into a large gaming world, though? Aren’t they, though? Video games have eclipsed Hollywood as the most profitable entertainment medium on the planet. Esports command massive paydays and feature dedicated teams, as well as all the trappings of ‘real’ sports. You know, drama, scandal, overpaid athletes, large amounts of TV time… and then there’s streaming, a career that was unheard of a few years ago. The very best streamers are rockstars, multi-millionaires with huge fan-bases and endorsement deals. And most of this activity takes place online. You might not be wearing a special suit to do this stuff but the day can’t be far off.

Right, so StuffPlays has to do with game streaming, then? Correct. And we’re a bit of a special case in that our streams (check out stuff.co.za for schedules) are basically how the Stuff office functions. The main difference is we’re adding controllers but the snark, sarcasm, and biting wit (plus a few bloopers) will all be present online, every week. Go and check it out.