Eat your heart out, California—and 46 other states: Colorado is a greater science and technology dynamo, according to the latest rankings by the Milken Institute. The Denver Post reports our state ranks third in the organization’s 2010 State Technology and Science Index, which is released every two years. Only Massachusetts and Maryland score higher, with the report making special mention of the new-energy economy efforts of former Governor Bill Ritter. It also points out the state ranks second, nationally, in the percentage of its adult population with a bachelor’s degree or better, although we come in at 47th in state appropriations for higher education per capita.

Meanwhile, the city of Loveland continues to make its case to become the home of a massive new Aerospace and Clean Energy technology park, according to the Reporter-Herald, with local officials boasting the specs of the town’s 800,000-square-foot former Agilent Technologies campus, which has sat empty for years. As I reported earlier this month for the Northern Colorado Business Report, several Front Range cities are competing to land the NASA-backed facility, which could support 100 businesses and 10,000 jobs. Furniture retailer IKEA won’t be part of the tech park, but its Centennial store is about to install more than 2,200 solar panels on its roof, writes the Post in a separate article.