Elon Musk, the 52-year-old Tesla founder and tech mogul, quietly welcomed a new member to his ever-growing family earlier this year. The baby’s mother is Shivon Zilis, the director of special projects at Neuralink Corp., another of Musk’s ventures.
A private family life
Musk and his partners have consistently aimed to shield their children’s lives from the public eye. This commitment to privacy was underscored in September 2023, when Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes and the mother of three of Musk’s children, took to X (formerly Twitter) to request privacy for their children. In a lengthy post, she addressed the media frenzy surrounding her co-parenting relationship with Musk and the recent revelation of their third child, a son named Techno Mechanicus, born shortly after Musk’s children with Zilis.
Musk’s expanding family
Elon Musk’s journey into fatherhood began in 2002 with the birth of his first son, Nevada Alexander, with his first wife, Justine Wilson. Tragically, Nevada passed away at 10 weeks old due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Wilson and Musk later had twins, Vivian Jenna, and Griffin, in 2004, followed by triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian in 2006, all conceived through IVF.
In May 2020, Musk and Grimes welcomed their first child together, a son named X Æ A-Xii. The couple later had a daughter via surrogate in December 2021, named Exa Dark Sideræl. Around the same time, Musk secretly welcomed twins Strider and Azure with Shivon Zilis in November 2021.
The revelation of Musk’s newest child coincides with the release of Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography about Musk, which disclosed the birth of Musk and Grimes’ third child, a son named Techno Mechanicus, who also goes by “Tau.”
Musk confirmed the birth of his latest child with Shivon Zilis, dismissing any notions of secrecy. “As for ‘secretly fathered,’ that is also false,” he stated. “All our friends and family know. Failure to issue a press release, which would be bizarre, does not mean ‘secret,’” he added. Despite this clarification, the sex and name of Musk’s youngest child remain undisclosed, highlighting the couple’s commitment to privacy.
The online buzz
The news of Elon Musk’s 12th child came as a surprise to those who follow his life online. Comparisons to Nick Cannon, known for his large family, quickly surfaced. “Nick Cannon and Elon single-handedly repopulating the earth,” joked one Instagram user. “Elon and Nick Cannon competing?” and “Nick, you got 24 hours to respond!” were other common comments.
Elon Musk’s personal life has often been a topic of intense public interest and scrutiny, given his high-profile relationships and significant professional achievements. His growing brood of children and the dynamics between his partners illustrate the complexities of his personal life, often played out under the public’s watchful eye.
Police K9 dies after being left in hot vehicle after air conditioner malfunction
It’s crucial now more than ever to keep an eye out for dogs left in hot automobiles because summer is still going strong and temperatures are rising to record levels in many places.
Dogs who are left in hot cars will not survive for long due to their severe susceptibility to heat stroke. Accidents can still occur even if you believe you have done all the necessary safety measures to avert catastrophe.
That was the unfortunate situation that occurred recently when a police department K9 was left in a hot car without air conditioning and without emergency procedures in place, leading to his death.
Vader, a 4-year-old K9 with the Arnold Police agency in Missouri, passed away on July 31 from heat exhaustion, according to a press release from the agency.
Vader was left in a running patrol car with the air conditioner running, according to the department, which referred to this as a “necessary and common practice” for K9s who are not actively participating in police operations.
Officers found that the air conditioning system had broken down when they got back inside the car.
The police added that although all of their K9 patrol cars have a failsafe mechanism that sounds the horn, pulls down the windows, warns the handler, and triggers the alarms and sirens if the vehicle reaches a particular temperature, this emergency backup “failed to activate.”
After being taken to the veterinary facility in a hurry, Vader appeared to be improving, but he eventually passed away.
The Arnold Police Department posted, “Unfortunately, we learned last night that there were no further treatments available for Vader and he succumbed to his injuries.”
“Investigating this tragedy to determine what went wrong,” the department wrote in a letter. They also requested that people remember Vader’s handler and his family in their prayers and expressed their sorrow over his passing.
Understandably, the public has been devastated by the news and has experienced strong emotions; many have wondered if more might have been done to avert this disaster.
On Facebook, someone said, “Take the dog with you, just like a child. Common practice needs to change.”
For that reason alone, another person remarked, “These dogs should never be left in a car for an extended period of time, running or not.” “I know it was an accident, but nobody else should have to go through this.”
Others recommended enhancing or testing the emergency heat alarm system of the cars more frequently because it did not sound.
Vader is sadly not the only police dog to pass away after being left in a hot car; sadly, this happens frequently due to either officer negligence or—in this case—a malfunctioning air conditioner and backup system.
Horus, a second Missouri police dog, also passed away after being left in a hot car overnight, a few days before Vader did.
It is terrible that police dogs could suffer and even perish from a hot car since they put their lives in danger for their communities. Although emergency warnings and air conditioning are features of patrol cars, it is obvious that these devices are not infallible.
We hope that Vader’s untimely passing and the deaths of all the other K9 victims will spur more measures to safeguard their lives.
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