Two adult bald eagles recently “talon-locked” during a mid-air battle in Duluth, Minn. and crash-landed on the Duluth International Airport tarmac. While one bird was able to fly away, the other was severely injured and was taken to The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota for care.

Talon-locking is known to occur among eagles of the same sex during breeding territory battles and among male and female eagles during courtship.

The eagle cared for at The Raptor Center sustained puncture wounds from the second bird’s talons and is expected to recover.

Watch a KARE 11 video featuring The Raptor Center executive director Julia Ponder, D.V.M., and the bald eagle patient here.

Imagine a virus that could infect — and jump to and from — birds or mammals that is always adapting and changing, so by the time researchers have an answer for one strain, it’s already changed forms.

The virus, of course, is influenza.

In an editorial in the Washington Post, the editorial board explores H7N9, the most recent strain of avian influenza (bird flu). The board writes:

“This variant, known as H7N9, has not reached U.S. shores, but it is a reminder of the unpredictable nature of influenza. It might cause a pandemic, or settle into a slow burn for years, or simply die out. At this stage, no one knows. The uncertainty ought to remind us of past lessons about infectious disease and globalization, which remain as urgent as ever.”

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have completed testing on a Type 1 diabetes treatment involving transplanting “islet cells”, or insulin producing cells known to reverse and even diminish the disease.

So far, 48 people have undergone the groundbreaking experimental treatment which seeks to eliminate one of America’s most serious health problems…

It is no secret that young girls can be excessively cruel to one another when engaging in acts like teasing, taunting and rumor spreading.

However, a study from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing shows that mentorship and leadership opportunities for at-risk teen girls might help prevent social bullying and the other high-risk behaviors it can lead to.

On Tuesday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., met with researchers and representatives of foundations that raise funds for research into epilepsy, autism and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases to brief them on the National Institutes of Health’s BRAIN Initiative…

Earlier this week, a large study out of Europe made headlines for finding just one can of soda or a sugary beverage a day increased the risk of developing diabetes by more than one fifth.

According to Reuters, the study found every extra 12 fluid ounce serving of sugar-sweetened drink raised the risk of diabetes by 22 percent compared with drinking just one can a month or less.

“The study shows that there is an association between the intake of sugar beverages and a risk of developing diabetes,” Simone French, Ph.D., an obesity prevention researcher in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and director of the University’s Obesity Prevention Center.

According to French, there have been many studies and reviews that show a link between sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity and diabetes, including data from U.S. population-based cohort studies. Now you can add this study from Europe. She wonders whether the link this study found between sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes risk is through the higher body weight.

“Do sugar beverages cause people to gain more weight and become overweight, and thereby this increases risk of developing diabetes?”

Studies such as the recent examination by European researchers help us inch closer to the answer. Read more about the study from Reuters here.