Small Resolutions and Non-Liftable Calabi-Yau threefolds

We use properties of small resolutions of the ordinary double point in dimension three to construct smooth non-liftable Calabi-Yau threefolds. In particular, we construct a smooth projective Calabi-Yau threefold over $\F_3$ that does not lift to characteristic zero and a smooth projective Calabi-Yau threefold over $\F_5$ having an obstructed deformation. We also construct many examples of smooth Calabi-Yau algebraic spaces over $\F_p$ that do not lift to algebraic spaces in characteristic zero.