Israeli and U.S. scientists have a plan to take the wind from a hurricane’s sails by using smoke particles to cool the heat cycling effects of the storms, according to an October report in New Scientist. The “hurricane decelerator” would attempt to smoke out some of a storm’s strength by causing water vapor to condense at lower altitudes, moving energy to the edges of the hurricane and knocking it off kilter.

If the displaced energy resulted in even a small reduction in wind speed, it might enough to alleviate some of the destructive force lurking at the storm’s center, the report said.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with inventors Daniel Rosenfeld, Alexander Khain, and William Woodley filed a World Intellectual Property Organization patent on the process they developed using computer simulations. Read the New Scientist article and commentary on the concept and access the patent.