The use of thermal sensors and imaging devices has become so widespread that numerous applications ranging from military sensors to firefighting equipment rely heavily upon this technology. There is a desire, however, to improve upon the sensitivity of uncooled sensors while reducing the complexity of their fabrication. Our research takes a biomimetic approach through the study of how snakes, insects and bacteria sense and respond to heat. It is amazing to realize that these organisms are able to sense heat without using exotic materials while operating at ambient temperatures and pressures, and under extremely noisy environments. It has been reported that the beetle Melanophila acuminate is able to detect forest fires in flight from over 50 km away. By integrating what has been learned through our studies of these species, we have developed a protein-based sensor that is uncooled, highly sensitive yet has low noise, and is extremely lightweight. Several arrays for various applications, from simply imaging arrays to tracking and guidance systems, will also be described.