We study the variations of mixed Hodge structures (VMHS) associated with a pencil ${\mathcal{X}}$ of equisingular hypersurfaces of degree $d$ in $\mathbb{P}^{4}$ with only ordinary double points as singularities, as well as the variations of Hodge structures (VHS) associated with the desingularization of this family $\widetilde{{\mathcal{X}}}$. The notion of a set of singular points being in homologically good position is introduced, and, by requiring that the subset of nodes in (algebraic) general position is also in homologically good position, we can extend Griffiths’ description of the $F^{2}$-term of the Hodge filtration of the desingularization to this case, where we can also determine the possible limiting mixed Hodge structures (LMHS). The particular pencil ${\mathcal{X}}$ of quintic hypersurfaces with 100 singular double points with 86 of them in (algebraic) general position that served as the starting point for this paper is treated with particular attention.

We show that the set of real polynomials in two variables that are sums of three squares of rational functions is dense in the set of those that are positive semidefinite. We also prove that the set of real surfaces in $\mathbb{P}^{3}$ whose function field has level 2 is dense in the set of those that have no real points.