William Shatner is convinced trees are intelligent beings with feelings.
The 'Star Trek' veteran became fascinated with the subject of botany since being hired to voice a character called Phil The Plant in 2018 sci-fi comedy 'Aliens Ate My Homework' and his research led him to believe the link between humans and trees is closer than first thought.
According to the Daily Star newspaper, Shatner said: "We have discovered that trees are alive, we've discovered that trees have DNA not dissimilar to us. They're sending out electrochemical signals among the mausoleum of fungi.
"They are sending electrochemical signals along the pathway. Our brains are sending electrochemical signals along dendrites. How dissimilar is that?"
In a 2018 interview with Cinemablend.com, Shatner explained his new outlook on trees came from reading a book on the subject as part of his research for the film and he became hooked on the romantic idea of trees being similar to humans.
He told the website: "There's all kinds of communication between trees and each other. They send out roots to help young trees and trees that had been felled, they send out help.There's really a life force going on in them, that, since their DNA is not dissimilar to ours, I think it's 50 per cent, they're living things.
"Now that has nothing to do with the voice, but the intrigue ...is a tree is alive, and what would it sound like if it were a voice? So I had to imagine that and came up with whatever it was I came up with."
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