Abstract:  
Among the many puzzling features of the Calabi-Yau Landscape, perhaps the most fundamental one is its astronomical size.

I will discuss how various open questions in mathematics and physics have motivated the construction of Calabi-Yau varieties tailored specifically to fill out preferred corners of the Landscape.  

It is well known that Machine Learning techniques have produced over 473 million Calabi-Yau threefolds. Using only classical tools, I will describe examples including: a Calabi-Yau vampire and an elementary local Calabi-Yau threefold having infinitely many distinct infinitesimal deformations.