Imagine a future where almost all cars and houses are powered by a fuel cell, an electrical generator – not a battery – that has no pollutant emissions and does not use petroleum-based fuel. It’s been an idea for years, but difficult to make a mass-production reality due to certain constraints, including costs. more

BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office announced last week that it had joined 37 other states in a $90 million settlement with GlaxoSmithKline LLC. The lawsuit resolves allegations that the pharmaceutical company unlawfully promoted its diabetes drug, Avandia, by misrepresenting its cardiovascular risks and safety profile. According to a statement, the settlement will bring more than $2.1 million to the commonwealth. more

The 2012 meeting of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, held Monday at the R.I. Convention Center, made news that could re-shape the region’s economy. more

Thanks to the work of Brown University associate research professor in public health Linda Resnik, a new method of evaluating the effectiveness of a prosthetic upper limb is in the making. While it’s too early to tell, the new process could become a standard by which doctors define the progress of patients and their use of prosthetics. more

The University of Rhode Island plans to increase its presence in the state’s capital city, according to President David M. Dooley, as part of a strategy to better prepare its students for success as well as help Rhode Island’s economy grow out of the hole it is in. more

The Rhode Island College Foundation has landed a $250,000 grant from the Champlin Foundations to help support the renovation of the human anatomy laboratory in the Fogarty Life Science Building. more

Maolin Guo, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, landed a $400,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation to support the development of a molecular imaging probe for cell research. more

Rhode Island is set to receive $647,722 as part of a $42.9 million national settlement with drug maker Pfizer Inc. for the unlawful promotion of its drugs Zyvox and Lyrica. more

Alondra Perez, middle, and fellow Woonsocket High School biotech-program students don clean suits and protective eyewear as they prepare to enter C.R. Bard’s Davol facility in Warwick. Twenty-four students from the program received firsthand looks and insight into various aspects of the medical-device field during the Dec. 5 tour. Davol is a wholly owned subsidiary of C.R. Bard, Inc. more

New recipes for a vaccine to combat the H7N9 flu went into production this weekend, in a collaboration between EpiVax and Aldevron in Fargo, N.D., and a researcher at Fort Detrick, Md., the home of the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, according to Dr. Anne S. De Groot. more