Solar steaming has emerged as a promising green technology that can address the global issue of scarcity of clean water. However, developing high‐performance, cost‐effective, and manufacturable solar‐steaming materials, and portable solar steaming‐collection systems for individuals remains a great challenge. Here, a one‐step, low‐cost, and mass‐producible synthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) origami‐based photothermal materials, and an original portable low‐pressure controlled solar steaming‐collection unisystem, offering synergetic high rates in both water evaporation and steam collection, are reported. Due to enhanced areas for vapor dissipation, the PPy origami improves the water evaporation rate by at least 71% to 2.12 kg m−2 h−1 from that of a planar structure and exhibits a solar–thermal energy conversion efficiency of 91.5% under 1 Sun. When further controlling the pressure to ≈0.17 atm in the steaming‐collection unisystem, the water collection rate improves by up to 52% systematically and dramatically. Although partial energy is utilized toward obtaining low‐pressure, evaluations show that the overall energy efficiency is improved remarkably in the low‐pressure system compared to that in ambient pressure. Furthermore, the device demonstrates effective decontamination of heavy metals, bacteria, and desalination. This work can inspire new paradigms toward developing high‐performance solar steaming technologies for individuals and households.

Solar steam generation, a sustainable water‐purification technology, holds substantial promise in resolving the global issue of shortage of drinkable water. Here, the design, fabrication, and high‐performance of an innovative 3D solar steamer, offering synergistic high‐efficiency steaming and heavy metal removal functions are reported. The device is made of synthesized carbon‐molybdenum‐disulfide microbeads electrostatically assembled on a 3D polyurethane sponge. The mesoporous composite sponge also serves as a freestanding water reservoir that avoids one‐side contact to bulk water, effectively suppressing the commonly observed parasitic heat loss, and offering a high energy efficiency of 88%. When being sculpted into a 3D spoke‐like structure, the composite sponge achieves one of the highest evaporation rates of 1.95 kg m−2 h−1 at 1 sun. The solar steamer is demonstrated for water treatment, i.e., decontamination of metal ions, disinfection, and reducing alkalinity and hardness of river water. Particularly, the strong mercury adsorption of MoS2 reduces mercury levels from 200 to 1 ppb, meeting the stringent standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is the first demonstration of mercury‐removal powered by solar energy. The unique design, fabrication, water‐handling strategy, and mercury‐removal function of this high‐performance solar steamer can inspire new paradigms of water treatment technologies.

Heterogeneous DNA methylation patterns are linked to tumor growth. In order to study DNA methylation heterogeneity patterns for breast cancer cell lines, we comparatively study four metrics: variance, I2 statistic, entropy, and methylation state. Using the categorical metric methylation state, we select the two most heterogeneous states to identify genes that directly affect tumor suppressor genes and high- or moderate-risk breast cancer genes. Utilizing the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis software and the ConsensusPath Database visualization tool, we generate integrated gene networks to study biological relations of heterogeneous genes. This analysis has allowed us to contribute 19 potential breast cancer biomarker genes to cancer databases by locating “hub genes” – heterogeneous genes of significant biological interactions, selected from numerous cancer modules. We have discovered a considerable relationship between these hub genes and heterogeneously methylated oncogenes. Our results have many implications for further heterogeneity analyses of methylation patterns and early detection of breast cancer susceptibility.