The interaction of a system of many small pipes to accomplish computation is an active area of research, and new improvements are used in devices pretty routine

The interaction of a system of many small pipes to accomplish computation is an active area of research, and new improvements are used in devices pretty routinely. (Really, the behavior of networks of pipes in general is still pretty open, if you want instantaneous details rather than statistical averages.) Along similar lines, HFLP systems and systems that require laminar flow to be effective are both more recent techniques that come out of a better understanding and engineering of pipes. HFLP upgrades are a current engineering change over very recent and modern high-pressure systems.