I can’t let this one go without posting the reference to the paper generating all the fuss.
Retinal glial cells enhance human vision acuity. A. M. Labin and E. N. Ribak
Physics Department, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
“We construct a light-guiding model of the retina outside the fovea, in which an array of glial (Muller) cells permeates the depth of retina down to the photoreceptors. The retina is revealed as an optimal structure designed for improving the sharpness of images.
The results provide evidence for a natural optical waveguide array, which preserves almost perfectly images obtained through a narrow pupil.
Light guiding within the retinal volume is an effective and biologically convenient way to improve the resolution of the eye and reduce chromatic aberration. The retinal nuclear layers, until now considered a source of distortion, actually improve the decoupling of nearby photoreceptors and thus enhance visual acuity.
The fundamental features of the array of glial cells are revealed as an optimal structure designed for preserving the acuity of images in the human retina. It plays a crucial role in vision quality, in humans and in other species.”