Researchers taking the wind out of cyclone devastation

Using aerosols to disruption their formation may be the key to taming life-threatening cyclones. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

Although Alfred was an ex-tropical cyclone by the time it reached Queensland in March, it still managed to cause over a billion dollars' damage.

For most, the toll had it landed as a Category 5 system generating winds in excess of 250km/h, doesn't bear contemplating.