Let X be an n-dimensional Calabi-Yau with ordinary double points, where n is odd. Friedman showed that for n=3 the existence of a smoothing of X implies a specific type of relation between homology classes on a resolution of X. (The converse is also
true, due to work of Friedman, Kawamata and Tian.) We sketch a more topological proof of this result, and then extend it to higher dimensions. For n>3 the Yukawa product on the middle dimensional (co)homology plays an unexpected role. We also discuss a converse, proving it for nodal Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in projective space.
