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Offshore wind farms are popular in Europe and gaining interest in the US, but its unclear how the turbines will fare in a powerful hurricane. Two studies on the subject have reached seemingly contradictory conclusions. One group says wind turbines would buckle in a serious hurricane, while the other says the turbines would sap the hurricanes strength. One study, published this week by researchers from Stanford and the University of Delaware, says current wind turbines placed offshore could actually slow down hurricanes before they hit land. Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford researcher who has been building a weather and pollution model for the last 24 years, says todays wind turbines can withstand winds up to 112 miles per hour, reducing a storms peak wind speeds by up to 92 miles an hour. One group says hurricanes will destroy wind farms, the other says wind farms will destroy hurricanes