You know how people who don't get science or scientists or the business of science research tend to assume that all grant requests are made up of the most ludicrous research topics and angles, just so said research teams can keep the money coming in?

Well...

... the Star Citizen and Squadron 42 peeps at Cloud Imperium Games have revealed that the most recent development update for the single-player portion of the epically-forever-in-alpha mega crowdfunded game(s) has aimed to add "bedsheet deformation" and, get this, that there was R&D involved in the process.

So, you know: making a case for more development everything.

From the update notes:

We knew early on that, to hit the fidelity we expect for Sq42, we would need to do some R&D on bedsheet deformation. This work is currently underway and, if successful, will allow the AI to deform their sheets when entering, exiting, or sleeping inside them. This is a challenging assignment and expands the complexity of the feature. For example, what happens to the sheets if the AI needs to exit the bed in an emergency?

Far be it for us to pile on this crazy development, especially because it's been covered (heh) a bit already around the traps (thanks GamesRadar), but it really is a bit of an 'out there' point of focus when so much else needs to happen to get this project out the door. And sure, the update covers off a lot more and other sites reporting this have rightly pointed to the game's next-level immersion as the driving factor, but still...

Bedsheet deformation.