Very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy is typically concerned with standard astrophysical processes, such as particle acceleration and emission mechanisms in gamma-ray sources. However, gamma-ray observations can also be used to search for dark matter, and to study the magnetic fields and low-energy photon fields encountered by the gamma rays as they travel cosmological distances to reach the observer. I will present recent results from VERITAS, a ground-based imaging atmospheric-Cherenkov telescope array sensitive to gamma rays above 85 GeV, on dark matter searches and studies of the intergalactic magnetic field and extragalactic background light.
