project stormfury was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft into storms and seeding the eyewall with silver iodide. the project was run by the united states government from 1962 to 1983. a similar project using soot was run in 1958, with inconclusive results. various methods have been proposed to reduce the harmful effects of hurricanes. moshe alamaro of the massachusetts institute of technology proposed using barges with upward-pointing jet engines to trigger smaller storms to disrupt the progress of an incoming hurricane; critics doubt the jets would be powerful enough to make any noticeable difference.