Nanosoccer at 2008 US RoboCup Open promises to be a real riot for the microscopic set

All your unicellular buddies are just going to love this. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is rallying a trio of student-built nanobot teams to compete at the world's most popular sport, which will be the second time nanosoccer has accompanied the RoboCup Open. The difference with this year's competition is that the public will be invited to watch. Of course, with a playing field the size of a grain of rice, a microscope will be used to show the crazy antics of the remote-controlled robots as they bat around nanoballs the diameter of a human hair. Sounds harmless, but just you wait: before you know it these little bots will start marrying Spice Girls and faking on-field injuries just like the pros.