Is that really 500,000-year old art?

Jose Joordens holding a fossil Pseudodon shell (DUB7923-bL) with a hole, made by Homo erectus with a sharp tool, to open the shell (credit: Henk Caspers, Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands).

A graduate student finds some engraved mollusk shells in a museum's collection and an analysis credits them to our evolutionary predecessor, Homo erectus. Is it a hoax? Tabitha M. Powledge thinks not: "The paper reporting this analysis has been getting a generally respectful reception along with the usual few doubts." Also, did our primate forebears share our fondness for alcohol? And a revival for Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview.org.