Paul the octopus strikes again

Oracle octopus abandons Germany

Paul predicted Germany would lose to Spain in last night's semi-final match, and they did.

Carles Puyol's header in the 73rd minute off a corner will see Spain in their first World Cup final after an impressive 1-0 win over Germany in Durban.

Paul now has a perfect record in the FIFA tournament, this year he correctly chose the winner in each of Germany's six matches.

I'm still not sure whether the octopus has magical powers, is very lucky or if there is some food-tampering going on, but the whole fiasco brings some light and fluffiness to the game.

Spain will play the Netherlands in the 2010 final on Sunday, the 11th of July.

Octopus accurately predicts World Cup results

Oracle octopus predicts English loss

The funniest things happen during the World Cup.

One would think Paul the octopus would back his own team, just like any other Pom at the international tournament. But this English-born sea creature (born at Sea Life in Weymouth, on the south English coast) is keeping it real.

When two plastic boxes containing food were placed into the octopus' tank in Sea Life, Oberhausen, western Germany, one with a German flag, the other an England flag, Paul lost no time climbing into the German box.

He was right too, Germany beat England 4-1 today in their last 16 clash.

The 'oracle' is on a winning streak. Earlier in the tournament, he correctly predicted Germany would beat Ghana and Australia in their group D matches and that they would lose to Serbia.

So is it just pure luck or is there magic in the water?

Either way, I'm looking forward to following the animal's next predictions.

Why watch people play soccer when you can watch robots?

Mechanical maneuvers at robot World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is taking the world by storm, and although China didn't qualify for the real tournament in South Africa, they are determined to participate in the world game- robot style.

Over the next three days, China will host the inaugural International Humanoid Robot Olympic Games. (As if hosting the Olympics two years ago wasn't enough.) In this Olympic Games- with a twist- nineteen teams from China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Germany will compete their shiny, humanoid robots in a number of events including track-and-field, soccer, volleyball, boxing and weight-lifting.

While the competition may not draw the same crowds as the World Cup, the event looks to be a hallmark of the future. The organisers have even gone so far as to claim that the robot Olympics is designed to help make more intelligent robots for use at home. (My Mum always said she would invest in new technology when it could clean the house and cook dinner. Perhaps her waiting days are almost over.)

If you ask me, the robots look like an unsettling mix between evil automatons straight out of Dr Who and toy transformers.

But if robots are more your 'thing', you can have your very own soccer-playing android for the bargain price of $1,000, according to RIA Novosti. (Warning: designing a robot also involves many months of painstaking work. I'm just saying...)

Sounds like it would be easier to just go watch real people kick a ball around, even if the refs are terrible and some of the players are whingers (don't get me started on the vuvuzelas). I'd imagine the boys are easier on the eyes as well. Robots are butt ugly, don't you think?